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UNITED STATES OF AJMERICA. 






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SERMONS 



ON SOME OF 



THE FUNDAMENTAL PRINCIPLES 



OF 



THE GOSPEL. 



BY 



EEV. GEOEGE B. ^ILLEE, D.D., 

PB0FE8S0B OF THEOLOGY IN THE SEMINARY OF THE EYANGELICAL LXTTHEBAN 
CHTIKCH AT HAETWICK, OTSEGO CO., NEW YOEB:. 



BY 

REV. WILLIAM D. STROBEL, D.D. 

TM Ii DD ■ EDITIOir . 

NEW YOEK 
N. TIBBALS & CO., 118 NASSAU 

PHILADELPHIA: LTTTHEEAN PFBLIOATION HOITSE, NO. 42 NOETH NINTH 8TBBET, 
BALTIMOBE*. T. NEWTON KITKTZ, NO. 151 PEATT 8TEEET. 

I860. ^ n^ ^ 




/5 c; 



INTRODUCTION. 



If the tourist, wlio visits the birth-place of the great American 
novehst, will extend his ride some five miles down the Susquehanna, 
he will be introduced to one of the most lovely valleys in America^ 
graced by every variety of prospect. And upon reaching a point 
where, by looking north, he sees the valley divided in twain by a 
remarkable hill, he will find himself in the vicinity of an unpretend- 
ing stone edifice, embowered in thick fohage, which bears evidence 
of being a seat of learning. Its appearance is somewhat rusty and 
antiquated, for it has stood there since the year eighteen hundred and 
fifteen, when Colleges and Academies were few and far between, 
affording the advantages of a classical education to many who have 
since become eminent in different walks of life. That Institution was 
founded by an eccentric G-erman clergyman, who, during the last 
century, spent his time in labors of love among his brethren, and 
at his death left this endowment which bears his name, " The Hart- 
wick Seminary^ Notwithstanding its seclusion from the great 
thoroughfares of travel, it still affords one of the most delightful ed- 
ucational retreats in the country. 

The Rev. G-eorge B. Miller, D.D., the author of this volume, is 
the Theological Professor there. Born in Pennsylvania, of Moravian 
parentage, in the year 1795, his early years were favored with all 
the moral and intellectual advantages associated with the schools of 



IV INTRODUCTION. 

that denomination. When little more than sixteen years of age he 
was tempted to try his fortunes as a teacher in New Jersey. Some 
ten years after, having entered the Grospel ministry, he settled in the 
valley of the Mohawk, associating a pastoral charge with the super- 
vision of an Academy. In the year 1827 he became the associate of 
his former preceptor and relative, Eev. Dr. HazeHus, in this Institu- 
tion, and was chosen his successor three years after. There he has 
labored since, with the exception of a few years, spending all his en- 
ergies in preparing young men for College and qualifying candidates 
for the Grospel ministry. As a philologist, theologian, and general 
scholar he now ranks among the first men in the EvangeHcal 
Lutheran Church. As a writer, he is clear, racy, and pointed. Pew 
men wield the pen so readily, or have equal facility in imparting their 
own thoughts to others. As a man of earnest Christian character, 
possessing a faith, ardent yet cMldlike in its simpHcity, habits of 
industry and self-denial of which we have few examples — a life 
adorned by many graces, unsullied by a single stain, unpretending 
and modest to a fault, he presents one of those specimens of primi- 
tive Christianity rarely met with, and towards which we are drawn 
by the strongest sympathies of our nature. To that kind of popular 
pulpit talent which is at present so much in demand, he makes no 
pretensions whatever. Though he preaches every Sunday, he is 
most at home with the pen or in the lecture-room. 

The present volume has been sohcited and obtained by two of 
his friends and former students, who desire some memorial of his 
truly estimable character, whilst they would enable the Christian 
world to see how bright and pure a Hght has for years been shining 
in the retired valleys of Otsego. 

In this age of ephemeral and trashy literature, when the pubHc 



INTRODUCTION. V 

seems to demand that which will amuse rather than that which will 
edify — it seems almost hopeless to attempt to bring a religious book 
of a didactic character into any thing like general circulation. And 
yet, never were such books more needed to neutralize the deleteri- 
ous influences which are exerted over the young, wrapping them up 
in the fancied joys of the present, to the utter exclusion of their 
great responsibilities as the creatures of God. Believing that the 
present volume, while teaching great truths, will prove highly inter- 
esting, we trust that it may be instrumental in bringing thirsting 
souls to the fountain of living waters. 

From some defect in early training, as well as jfrom the determin- 
ation on the part of many to eschew every thing like doctrinal 
preaching, in their cravings for extravagant displays of forensic elo- 
quence, there has arisen a great want of systematic knowledge of the 
fundamental truths of Christianity. There is, 'tis true, a very general 
diffusion of religious opinions, but disconnected from that species of 
arrangement which would enable the possessor " to give a reason for 
the hope that is in him," or " to contend for the faith once delivered 
to the saints." These sermons will afford proper nourishment for all 
such minds. They are not sectarian in their character, though rigidly 
orthodox, as that term is understood by aU who believe in the divin- 
ity and atonement of the Saviour. They exhibit Grod as the moral 
Governor of the world — the holiness of His laws, and their binding 
obligation upon every human soul. They point the penitent to the 
Lamb of God as their only hope. They surround the heavenward 
path of the believer with those promises which are to be found only 
in the Gospel of peace, whilst they exhibit the dangers and tempta- 
tions incident to his pilgrimage, and the means by which the arrows 
of the adversary may be averted. The faithful study of them must 



VI INTRODUCTION. 

tend to the edification of all believers, by giving them clear and cor- 
rect views of the plan upon which God designs to save a perishing 
world. 

"We, therefore, send forth this unpretending volume with much 
confidence, beheving that it contains the elements of much good, and 
hoping thereby to enlarge the sphere of usefulness of one who, in 
the most unobtrusive way, has labored for many years for the good 
of souls, and with our most fervent prayers that He who giveth the 
increase would cause the seed we are thus laboring to scatter to 
bring forth much fi:uit to His honor and glory. 

William D. Strobel. 

Ebd Hook, N. T., May, 1860. 



CONTENTS 



• ♦• 



SERMON I. 

THAT WE SHOULD DO THE GOOD WE KNOW. 

PAGE 

To him that knoweth to do good, and doeth it not, to him it is sin. — 
James, iv. It 11 

SERMON II. 

DEATH THE CON^SEQUElsrCE OF Si:Nro 
The wages of sin is death. — Kom., vl 23 25 

SERMON III. 

GOD OUR LAWGIVER. 

There is one Lawgiver who is able to save and to destroy. — ^James, 
iv. 12 42 

SERMON IV. 

god's law is HOLY AND GOOD. 

The law is holy, and the commandment holy, and just and good. — 
EOM., vii. 12 60 

SERMON V. 

THE CARNAL MIND OPPOSED TO GOD'S LAW. 

The carnal mind is enmity against Grod, for it is not subject to the 
l^w of G-od, neither indeed can be. — Rom., viii. T 76 



VUl CONTENTS. 



SERMON VI. 

NO MAN WILL BE FINALLY CONDEMNED FOR ORIG- 
INAL SIN. 

PAOX 

The word of the Lord came again unto me, saying, What mean ye 
that ye use this proverb concerning the land of Israel, saying, The 
fathers have eaten scur grapes and the children's teeth are set on 
edge ? As I hve, saith the Lord G-od, ye shall not have occasion 
any more to use this proverb in Israel IBehold, all souls are mine ; 
as the soul of the father, so also the soul of the son is mine : the 
soul that smneth, it shall die.— Ezekiel, xviii. 1-4 93 



SERMON VII. 

ALL MEN GUILTY BEFORE GOD. 

All have sinned and come short of the glory of G-od. — Eoir., iii. 23. . Ill 

SERMON VIII . 

SALTATION OF FAITH, THAT IT MIGHT BE BY GRACE. 

And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wildern-ess, even so must 
the Son of man be lifted up, that whosoever beheveth on Him 
should not perish but have everlasting hfe. — JoHX, iii. 14, 15 128 

SERMON IX. 

THE GREAT LOYE OF GOD. 

God commendeth his love towards us in that, while we were yet sin- 
ners, Christ died for us. — Roii., v. 8, 141 

SERMON X. 

FREENESS AND LARGENESS OF THE GOSPEL-OFFER. 

Incline your ear and come unto me ; hear and your soul shall live : 
*and I will make an everlasting covenant with you, even the sure 
mercies of David. — Isaiah, Iv. 3 166 

SERMON XI. 

REASON WHY MEN PERISH. 

Ye will not come to me that ye might have life. — Johk, v. 40 •ISS 



CONTENTS. IX 

SERMON XII. 

THE TRUE SOURCE OF WISDOM. 

PAGE 

If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men 
liberally, and upbraideth not ; and it shall be given him. But let 
him ask in faith, nothing wavering. — James, i. 5, 6 201 



SERMON XIII. 

THE IMPORTANCE OF PRESENT DECISION ON THE SUB- 
JECT OF RELIGION. 

Wherefore, as the Holy Ghost saith, To-day if ye will hear his voice. — 
Heb., iii. 7 219 



SERMON XIV. 

THE BLESSEDNESS OF THE BELIEVER. 

Blessed is the man whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is cov- 
ered. Blessed is the man unto whom the Lord imputeth not in- 
iquity, and in whose spkit there is no guile. — Psalm, xxxii. 1, 2.. 2 ST 

SERMON XV. 

THE RIGHTEOUSNESS OF GOD. 

That He might be just and the justifier of him which beheveth in 
Jesus. — Rom., iii. 26 (last clause) 25t 

SERMON XVI. 

THE CERTAINTY OF SALVATION. 

For it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of his good 
pleasure. — Phil., ii. 13 276 

SERMON XVII. 

TEMPTATIONS. 

And lead us not into temptation. — Mat., vi. 13 (first clause) 294 



X CONTENTS. 

SERMON XVIII. 

THE BLESSED FKUITS OF FAITH. 

PAGE 

Therefore, being justified by faith, we have peace with God, through 
our Lord Jesus Christ. — Rom., v. 1. 318 

SERMON XIX. 

EXCELLENCY AND SUFFICIENCY OF THE GOSPEL. 

I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God 
unto salvation to every one that believeth j to the Jew first, and 
also to the Greek. — Rom., i. 16 339 

SERMON XX. 

THE EASY YOKE OF CHRIST. 

Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me ; for I am meek and lowly 
in heart : and ye shall find rest unto your souls. — Mat., xi. 29. . . . 360 



SERMON I. 

THAT WE SHOULD DO THE GOOD WE KNOW. 

Therefore, to him that kno f^eth to do good, and doeth it not, to him it is 
sin. — James iv., 17. 

If anything in Scripture is plain, it is the perfect 
equity of the divine laws. They recommend themselves at 
once to the reason and conscience of every unperverted 
mind. N"ay, even those whose lives, being in direct opposi- 
tion to the requirements of God, makes them have a per- 
verse interest to show that these requirements are severe or 
unjust, are forced, for very shame, to acknowledge their ex- 
cellence. Hence, among the bitterest opponents of reve- 
lation, it is not against the morality of the Bible, particularly 
of the New Testament, that their shafts are directed. 
This is too clearly founded in the nature and propriety of 
things to admit of much caviling. It is rather against the 
doctrinal articles of our holy faith, against the superhuman 
events recorded, and against the character of the divine ad- 
ministrations, that they raise their rancorous, though futile 
objections. 

This serves to set the inconsistency as well as hypocrisy 
of the enemies of religion in the clearest light. For if the 
morality taught by the inspired penmen is so pure and per- 
fect, as is conceded by all, both friends and foes, it proves 
that these writers, and those with whose doctrines they 
make us acquainted, were holy men, who enjoyed a higher 



12 THAT T^^E SHOULD DO THE GOOD WE KXOW. 

teaching than any light of human reason can afford; and 
that hence the facts which they have recorded, however 
contrary to our ordinary every-day experience, are worthy 
of all acceptation. The credibility of the sacred historians, 
in short, rests upon afar better foundation than that of the 
most veracious and circumspect of profane writers; so that 
to this particular we may with the utmost justice apply the 
argument of St. John, that "if we receive the witness of 
men, the witness of God is greater." The Bible is deserv- 
ing of all reliance, and has commanded the assent of the 
best and wisest men of all ages. 

But again, if the precepts and laws which God has given 
unto men are so just and equitable, can we, for a moment, 
admit the thought that the administration of these laws can 
be otherwise than one of the utmost purity and impartiality ? 
Therefore, those who admit the excellency of the laws are 
inconsistent, not to say insincere, when they pretend that 
the author of these laws is chargeable with injustice or 
partiality. Or, if they admit that the laws and the morality 
contained in the Bible are from God, must they not in 
fairness acknowledge that the history of the divine govern- 
ment and the revelation of the divine purposes as therein 
made known are fi'om the same holy source ? And if it 
can be shown, both from theory and from experience, that 
both the doctrines revealed, and the facts recorded, and the 
divine purposes proclaimed in the Bible, have all one object 
and one tendency, namely, to make the divine laws respected 
and obeyed, is not this proof enough of a common origin. 

To return to our starting point — the equity of the divine 
laws is manifest on the face of them, and few indeed have 
had the hardihood to raise any objections to the Bible on 
this ground. We need but remind you of those two great 
commandments, of which all other precepts are but the ap- 



THAT WE SHOULD DO THE GOOD WE KNOW. 13 

plication to particular cases and relations ; this, which is the 
chief: " Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy 
heart, and soul, and mind, and strength," and the second, 
which is like unto it : " Thou shalt love thy neighbor as 
thyself; " or that plain and practical rule which our Saviour 
has given for the regulation of our intercourse with others : 
"Whatever ye would that men should do unto you, do ye 
even so unto them ; " or that beautiful delineation of char- 
ity contained in the 13th chapter of 1st Corinthians, to 
which we would refer you. • 

Thus, also, the equity of that principle of the divine ad- 
ministration is manifest, which St. James lays down in the 
words of our text, saying, "Therefore, to him that know- 
eth to do good, and doeth it not, to him it is sin," a princi- 
ple which is well worthy of our most serious meditation, 
and which will form the theme of our present address, that 

WE AEE REQUIRED TO DO THE GOOD WE KNOW. 

May the Lord open our understandings to receive the truth, 
and incline our hearts to practice it ! 

We shall consider, Firsts the simplicity and clearness, as 
well as the equity and universality, of the rule as recom- 
mending it at once to our reason and conscience. 

It is perfectly simple. There is no ambiguity about it. 
It leaves us at no possible loss what will be charged to us 
as sin, and what will not. It is, in fact, the expression in 
plain and intelligible words of what our own reason teaches, 
and our own conscience enforces. What we know to 
be good and right, that we are to practice. There can be 
no emergency so sudden, no situation so perplexing, as to 
leave us at a loss whether the rule applies to it or not. It 
does not, like many human laws, admit of a two-fold con- 
struction, requiring one well versed in legal niceties to ex- 



14 THAT WE SHOULD DO THE GOOD WE KNOW. 

pound and apply it. The weakest understanding is capa- 
ble of making the application, and of discovering its bear- 
ing and fitness. Closely connected with the simplicity of 
the rule is its transparent clearness. 

We can not only see at once where and how it applies, 
but we perceive with equal ease what it requires us to do ; 
even the good that we know. It is not something that 
must first be learnt, but what we already know, which we 
are commanded to do. Hence, we can be at no loss as to 
the nature of pur duty. We can not plead ignorance in 
excuse if we neglect to do it. 

We do not even need to know the rule itself as here ex- 
pressed in words. It commands nothing but what our own 
reason pronounces to be right, and what our own con- 
science enjoins upon us with supreme authority. And that 
it is so expressly enjoined in the word of God serves only 
to show us that the laws of our Maker coincide with the re- 
quirements of reason and conscience; in other words, that 
He who is the author of reason and conscience, is also the 
author of that word whose every precept is in perfect con- 
sonance with unprejudiced reason and unbiassed conscience. 

His word, at the same time, confirms the dictates of these 
our highest faculties, and leaves us at no loss as to their 
binding authority. No less does it correct the judgments 
of our understanding and give distinctness to the voice of 
conscience, wherever the one is in danger of being drowned 
amidst the clamors of conflicting passions, and the other 
has been perverted by the prevalence of selfishness. Thus 
it makes the path of duty at once plain and easy. From 
all this results the perfect equity of this divine rule. 

We learn that no more is required of us than what we 
are capable of performing. To know to do good is not 
merely to have the knowledge of what is right in any par- 



THAT WE SHOULD DO THE GOOD WE KNOW. 15 

ticular case, but to be able to do it, to know how to do 
good, to have the capacity and ability to do it. That to 
do good to the best of his knowledge and ability is the 
duty of every rational being, is a principle so plain and 
obvious that it would be a waste of words to attempt to 
prove its correctness. Now, here we are taught that this 
is all that our Maker requires of us. What could be more 
just and equitable ? 

Surely if any one is disposed to find fault with this re- 
quirement, it would be difficult to satisfy him. In other 
words, he would show most indubitably that his mind and 
will is absolutely perverse, that he is the enemy of all 
righteousness, in short, that it is his intention to do wrong, 
to disregard all authority and law. Now, how such a sub- 
ject must be dealt with by any government under w^hich 
he lives is no difficult question to decide. And how, living 
and dying in this state of mind, he will be dealt with by 
the principles of the divine government under which we all 
live, reason and conscience will decide whenever they pro- 
nounce an unbiassed judgment. But the word of God has 
set the matter beyond all doubt. 

We dwell somewhat longer upon the equity of the divine 
rule, though it is self evident, because nothing is more com- 
mon for men than to imagine that God requires impossibil- 
ities, or, at any rate, what is next to impossible. Under 
such mistaken views they are tempted, both to extenuate 
their sins, as unavoidable mis-steps, and to murmur against 
the Lord as an unreasonable and hard Master. Thus, their 
native opposition to the will of God is cherished and aggra- 
vated, w^iile they rush into sin with increased recklessness. 

Now in exact contrariety to these wicked imaginations 
of the human heart, we learn from our text, that God re- 
quires no impossibilities of His creatures ; that He will not 



16 THAT VTE SHOULD DO TRE GOC'I' VTE KNOW. 

charcT'r ■' vr' ::::::r ": : "-^? r;- ^i:: ti^.: V." ::: r:-^:^::-::v we 

are not your ways :_: ;" :"" A!^ :^r "-.-i:::.::'^--^ ■?:!:. ":.::: 
of equity lif^ -^1:1 y^ri. sLiiiie: ; c,:: ^ sion or ia:e ti::a 
shalt have : : :.. ^i : .t ^gr ::. 

The eq:;:::;":^r ::^,:»i.re :f ti:- rulr is ::: ir^- evi^^i:: in 
compar::".g iiir iiiiiTir.-.^,; Tr::i :;i::i:.rr. C'-.;r ::^ ".::r^. 

^:ilz[isc::/ :_ v-i^.s -- uini : s: ri 'i-^^;- To 

requires C'l cu.i m ex^ci ircT;irtiii. tj i 



h\\: 



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dares that " iie il.:,: l:i.i.v-:„ :i i: ^::i ..„ _ t.i. :: ni:, 
to him it is am" 

TTf end but a few moments to make you obseire 

the m: : V of this precept. It is apparent that it ap- 

plies t: : lis. to all persons and to all circumstances. 

Ti 1 11 1 case of human action to which it is not 

s] ::z 1 ' ' In every dtuation in which we are 

' - " i : T X : Tidence we stoTiId be e"i-ed by this 
n 1^ - :: Te shall be trie i. Ol ^.civ occasion 
T : 1 what is ligbt. We r.ie at no time released 
frouk oar responsibility. Thi^ _ 1 lead us to be careful 
and circumspect, and never sc — r^ the reins to our 

imaginatioD, our dedres, or 01 to do any thing 

that reason condemns, and for " L :_ : is iiice wiU after- 
wards chide, though it be seem ii g ;: i s ml matter. 



THAT WE SHOULD DO THE GOOD WE KNOW. 17 

This we may learn from the example adduced by St. 
James. " Go to now," he says, " ye that say, to-day or to- 
morrow we will go into such a city and continue there a 
year, and buy and sell and get gain. For that ye ought to 
say, if the Lord will, we shall live and do this or that." 
He shows that in the ordinary occurrences of life, in our 
customary business, we should feel and acknowledge our 
dependence upon God, and always live and act as in His 
presence and under a sense of our accountability to Him. 

Having thus considered the gospel rule of conduct in its 
fitness and clearness, let us dwell a while upon the question 
of what is implied in it. 

This may be reduced under three heads: To inquire 
what is our duty in our several relations, that we may 
know what is right. 

To cultivate all our faculties, especially the higher pow- 
ers of our nature, our moral and intellectual faculties, so as 
to acquire the*means "and ability to do good. 
And to be faithful in all respects. 

Each of these points will require your serious attention 
for a short space. 

First, It is necessary to make ourselves acquainted with 
our duty in our several relations. We owe a duty to God, 
and a duty to our fellow creatures, according to the rela- 
tive position in which we stand tosvards them. 

This must be made a matter of serious inquiry and fre- 
quent meditation. It will not do for us to excuse our 
neglect by saying we did not know our duty, so long as 
we have not taken proper pains to learn our duty. " That 
servant," says our Lord, " that prepared not himself," thus 
intimating that a certain preparation for our work is neces- 
sary. It is unavoidable ignorance only that will exculpate 
us in not doing good. The idle and sluggish servant will 



18 THAT WE SHOULD DO THE GOOD WE KNOW. 

not escape the merited punishment under this plea. Rather 
it will be considered as an aggravation of his fault. Or, if 
you please, it belongs among those things which we know. 
For this we were endowed with rational powers, that we 
might learn our duty, and might know that it is right and 
good for us to do so. To live at random without reflection 
is unworthy of a reasonable being, and no one can feel free 
from guilt who acts thus. 

For this needful study the common intercourse of society 
furnishes many opportunities. An attentive observation of 
our own feelings and an open ear for the reproofs of our 
consciences will advance our knowledge on these points. 
But above all, a diligent and prayerful study of the word of 
God will teach us what is good in respect to this. In short, 
it is far less for want of knowing what is right than for want 
of a good will to do what they know, that men fail of doing 
their duty. But so failing they are witnesses against them- 
selves. " Out of thine own mouth will I judge thee, thou 
wicked and slothful servant," will be the language of our 
Judge to all such. 

But, secondly^ in order to do the good we know, it is 
necessary to cultivate all our faculties, especially the higher 
powers of our nature, the moral and intellectual faculties 
with which God in His wisdom and goodness has endowed 
us, so that we may possess the ability to do good. This 
point is as plain as the former. To accomplish any purpose 
w^e must employ the proper means. To turn our various 
faculties to a good account we must cultivate them and ex- 
ercise them upon proper objects. We learn from our text 
that sins of omission are a serious offense in the eyes of 
God. 

This is a subject upon which men are wont to entertain 
very loose principles. They think that so long as they do 



THAT WE SHOULD DO THE GOOD WE KNOW. 19 

no barm they are doing very well. But the judgment day 
will show them mistaken. Would we escape the sentence 
pronounced upon the slothful servant of being cast into 
outer darkness, where there is " weeping and wailing and 
gnashing of teeth," we must apply ourselves with the ut- 
most diligence to the work of doing all the good we can. 
Our omissions of known duty ; our neglect of cultivating 
our hearts and understandings to the utmost, so as to in- 
crease our capacity of doing good ; our indolence and care- 
lessness in performing the ordinary business of life ; our want 
of watchfulness in seeking and improving opportunities of 
making ourselves as useful as possible to society, in the fam- 
ily, in the church, and in the world — all this we shall find 
charged to our account in God's book. 

If we have a due sense of our responsibility in these re- 
spects, there is manifestly no danger of our falling into 
self righteousness, while using our most strenuous efforts to 
obey all the co'mmandments of God. After having done 
all, so far as human imperfection will admit, we shall ac- 
knowledge ourselves unprofitable servants and shall have to 
cast ourselves upon the mere mercy- of God for acceptance. 
" To him that knoweth to do good, and doeth it not, to him 
it is sin." 

Hence, thirdly^ it becomes necessary to be faithful in all 
respects; to watch over our conduct, our words, our 
thoughts and desires, with the utmost diligence. It is nec- 
essary to introduce order and regularity into our daily 
practice. For without order we shall accomplish little 
Whatever we do we should do it with our might ; throw- 
ing our whole soul into the work. But before we under- 
take anything it ought to be a matter of prayerful consider- 
ation whether it be pleasing in the sight of God ; whether 
it be just that duty which our present circumstances render 



20 THAT WE SHOUTD DO THE GOOD VTE KXOW. 

obligatory. Our labor will a'l be in v;-' " — ^ it be 

wrought in the Lor:b ::'o:n a ^:::orre Ot-'i't _: ^r^^r- Him 

and from a deep o:lv:. :■::-;:: .:: l;;:' :.: : : o:;:; ^:o:y to Him. 
Bat what is done cheerfaily from t':.:s ' _e will not be 

in Tain. 

To en:: '.^raze us to such a course let us i^or-'rf. "- our 
third niair. ':l:\o-:jn. what will be some ^j. ..^r : t^.tUIs 
rcsulunj II^;■nl -ucli a course of dutiM and diligent en- 
deavco- o: f : the o: ::1 we know. 

Amo::g :l.eSc \>'c mention, first, peace of mini the an- 
swer o: a gc-od conscience. Every sincere en':r: :: ]:'lease 
God wi;" br f:b:'"ed by a corresponding sens- :f me di- 
vine favor. The eyes of tlie Lord are over all the earth, be- 
holding the evil and the good. •' He looketh upon man, 
and if any sa^ I have sinned and perverted that which 
was right and it profited me not. He v.h ". over his soul 
from g eing into the pit. and his life shall see the light." 

The moment that the earne^"^ desire springs up in the 

heart of returnl::g to God :..._ ;y, our gracious Father is 

ready to meet his returning prodiga]. Even to wicked 
Cain, who went about with the :h:u_h:s -m khhng his 
righteous brother, the Lord -aid : " If th:u :' ^ ^-'^ "-rh sha^: 

thou not be accepted?" "If ourheam .;._ o- n::. 

then have we confidence towards God." '* For :.^ a voh^r 
pitieth his children, so the Lord pitietb " v.: lear 

Him;*' but to those that are c:mtent:ous an., ^.^j lx-a obey 
the truth, He will prove a consuming fire. 

If, therefore, we turn to the Lord with sincere repent- 
ance and an humble reliance on the merits of Jesus Christ 
f?r the rari ?n ■::' our pa-st ofi'enses we shall be a^ji-e'/^ted. 
Our fjrmm^ -m- wih n:t be remembered aga:..-: o-. when- 
ever in eood earnest we set about to amend our ways and 
our doiu'^s. resolved to do all the eood we know. 



THAT WE SHOULD DO THE GOOD WE KNOW. 21 

Thus shall we enjoy the divine favor. His blessing will 
rest upon us and upon all we do. Though exact, God is 
not a hard master. He requires nothing of us but what we 
can perform. 

But of those talents, and opportunities, and means of do- 
ing good which He has entrusted to us, He will require a 
strict account one day. 

But again, another benefit resulting from a faithful dis- 
charge of every known duty, is our own personal improve- 
ment in holiness, and every virtue and Christian grace. 
Whatever may be lacking to us we may obtain by humble, 
fervent prayer, as says the same apostle from whom we 
have taken our text : *'If any of you lack wisdom, let him 
ask of God, who giveth to all men liberally and upbraideth 
not." " But," he adds, " let him ask in faith, nothing wa- 
vering;" ^^ 6., we must have confidence in God that He 
will do for us what we need, according to his gracious 
promises in Christ Jesus. 

Now this confidence we cannot feel while we are not sin- 
cerely desirous to please Him, and to do all His will. As 
St, John says, " If our heart condemn us, God is greater 
than our heart, and he knoweth all things." A good con- 
science, therefore, must be maintained at every cost, if we 
would draw nigh to God in faith and sincerity. 

If you feel a backwardness to approach unto the Lord 
in secret prayer, depend upon it, the fault lies with you. 
There is some sin you are not willing to part with; some 
secret reserve in your soul so that you do not submit en- 
tirely to God. Accordingly the Psalmist says, " If I re- 
gard iniquity in my heart, God will not hear me," while he 
adds with grateful acknowledgement, " Verily, God hath 
heard me." 

In the same degree as we grow in holiness, we grow in 



22 THAT WE SHOULD DO THE GOOD WE ELXOW. 

happiness. Our capacity for the pure joys of religion in- 
creases in exact proportion with our growth in grace. 
God, who is infinitely holy, is at the same time infinitely 
happy, wherefore He is called the blessed God; and the 
nearer we approach in likeness to Him, the more shall we 
share in His joy. On no subject do men commit greater 
mistakes than in the quest of happiness. It is intended as 
the gracious reward of obedience, and not to be the direct 
object of our pursuit. 

The more determined any one is to seek happiness, the 
more certainly will it elude his grasp. Even the happiness 
of heaven is not to be made the direct object of our pnr- 
suit. Our aim ought to be to serve and please God^ then 
happiness will follow of course, for His favor is life, and 
ffis loving kindness is better than life. 

To this subject we may justly apply the words of onr Sa- 
viour, "He that seeketh his life shall lose it, but he that los- 
eth his life for my sake shall find it." The more we forget 
ourselves, and live for Christ and our fellow creatures, the 
more truly happy shall we feel ourselves. Even in the les- 
ser concerns of this present life, the man who is always 
thinking of himself ; w^ho does everything with a direct 
view to personal enjoyment or advantage, is jnst the one 
who finds the least comfort, while the generous sonl that 
forgets itself in^the desire of contributing to the welfere of 
others has an unfailing spring of delight opened to it. In 
very little children already this same fact may be noticed. 
Those that are selfish and want to engross all notice, and 
to have everything their own way are sure to be sullen and 
discontented ; while those that are obliging and good na- 
tured, not only gain the afi:ections of all that know them, and 
thus meet with much kindness from others, but are much 
happier in their own minds than the selfish and disobliging. 



THAT WE SHOULD DO THE GOOD WE KNOW. 23 

The text that we have been considering is calculated to 
teach us two things. First, to be mild and equitable in 
judging others. We can not determine exactly how much 
light and knowledge our brother has on any given subject, 
and therefore we are not able to decide as to the degree of 
his sinfulness. He may be acting conscientiously in doing 
what to us appears wrong. 

The same outward conduct may assume very different 
degrees of guilt in different individuals. God only can look 
into the heart and determine the exact amount of sin com- 
mitted by ea'ch individual. While therefore we are charg- 
ing another with guilt, it is very possible that we are still 
more guilty in the sight of our Judge, for omitting what 
we know to be right, and may be drawing down His right- 
eous displeasure upon ourselves for our uncharitable judg- 
ments. For he has positively commanded us, " Judge not 
that ye be not judged." So long as we are conscious of 
many omissions, we do well to speak and judge tenderly 
of our brother, lest we meet with equal severity from our 
Lord. 

Another thing that we are no less taught by the text is 
to be strict and exact in scrutinizing our own conduct. 
Wherever we have known what was good and have neg- 
lected to do it, and that with all our powers, we have clearly 
incurred guilt in the sight of God, and unless we repent 
heartily, and seek forgiveness through the blood of Christ, 
which was shed for the remission of sins, our guilt remains 
upon us. And here, who can know how often he has failed ; 
how great is the debt which he has incurred ? 

Truly we have reason to pray, " Deliver us from blood 
guiltiness, O God." Enter not into judgment Avith us; but 
" forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those that trespass 
against us." We ought, therefore, to cultivate the great- 



24 THAT WE SHOULD DO THE GOOD WE KNOW. 

est tenderness of conscience ; to strive to do all that we 
know to be right and good ; and when conscious of having 
failed in our duty, to go at once to the throne of grace, 
with strong cries and tears, till we have obtained a comfort- 
able hope and well-grounded assurance that our sins have 
been forgiven us ; till we have confidence again in God. 
This holy confidence let us strive to maintain and increase 
by a constant and diligent efiort at universal ©bedience to 
all the commands of God. 

For as the same apostle from whom we have taken our 
text assures us : '* Whosoever shall keep the whole law and 
yet ofi:end in one point, he is guilty of all.-' That is, if we 
willfully break or neglect one of God's commandments, we 
make ourselves guilty no less than if we had broken them 
all. But if we sincerely, and in the fear of God, endeavor 
to keep all His commandments, we shall experience with 
the Psalmist, that we '* shall not be ashamed when we have 
respect unto all His commandments." For as he says 
ao-ain ; '' The entrance of Thv word oriveth ligrht, it o'iveth 
understanding unto the simple." '* Happy is the man that 
feareth always." "The fear of the Lord is the beginning of 
wisdom." ''A good understanding have all they that do 
His commandments." 



SERMON II. 

DEATH THE COXSEQUEXCE OF SIX. 

"For the wages of sin is death." — Romaxs vi, 23. 

• 
The immediate purpose of the apostle in these words is 

that the due reward of sin is eternal punishment, and that 
they who willingly continue the servants of sin will in the 
end receive the wages which they have earned. But it is 
no less clear that the assertion of our text includes the pro- 
position that death, ruin, misery, is to be considered as the 
consequence of sin, and of nothing else, so that had man 
not first sinned, he would have been free from all pain, sor- 
row and death. If death entered into the world it was be- 
cause man had sinned. In short, death is the wages of sin. 

That the condition of mankind is not as good as it might 
be, is seen and acknowledged by all. There is much, very 
much suffering in the world. Thus it has always been, as 
far back as the records of history go. And in our time of 
increasing knowledge and imiDrovement in arts and sciences, 
we are far from having escaped the common lot of human- 
ity. The situation of thousands and millions in countries 
boasting of their superior civilization is the most deplor- 
able that can be imagined, starving in the midst of plenty, 
and without any prospect of materially bettering their cir- 
cumstances, unless by means of a revolution, which can 
hardly be effected without a fierce and probably a bloody 
strup'Q^le. 

In our own favored land the strife is yet to come, but 

2 



26 DEATH THE COXSEQUEXCE OF SI2^. 

how soon, and to what extent is only known to God. Still, 
while slavery exists to so great an extent as it does, we are 
constantly exposed to the most dreadful calamities. 

Other countries groan nnder the yoke of an oppressive 
system of government, or are torn by internal factions. 

In a word, the world was never, perhaps, in a more per- 
plexed condition than it is at present, and no one can pre- 
tend to foresee what will be the result, though there is a 
general expectation of some great changes. " Men's hearts 
failing them for fear, and for looking after those things 
which are coming on the earth ; for the powers of heaven, 
^. 6., the supreme authorities in the different countries shall 
be shaken.*'"^ 

If to these national perplexities we add the private ills 
that afflict families and individuals, we have an untold 
amonnt of sorrow and suffering with which the earth is 
filled. 

Xow, in seeking for the cause of all their suffering, it will 
readily be granted in the general, that sin, moral evil, is the 
grand cause of it. 

That men have gone far astray from the rule of right and 
virtue ; that there is a vast amount of vice and corruption, 
is acknowledged on all hands by heathens and infidels as 
well as Christians, 

Still, when closely pressed, men are slow to admit the 
true cause of all the misery, as taught in our text, that 
death is the wages of sin ; that to sin we are to ascribe all 
the evil that exists. Indeed, they have no adequate idea 
of what sin is; as a state of rebellion against the authority 
of God, a voluntary and conscious violation of His holy 
laws. This is owing to their not acknowledging His su- 
preme authority over His creatures. Men are ever prone 
* TVritten in the year 1847. 



DEATH THE CONSEQUENCE OF SIN. 27 

to call His authority in question. They are not afraid nor 
ashamed to dispute His right to govern them. They re- 
fuse, without any severe compunctions of conscience, to 
obey the divine commands. Hence it becomes necessary, 
so to speak, that God should leave them to suffer sensibly 
and severely the consequences of sin, in order that they 
may be made feehngly alive to its enormity. And all the 
natural evils that men have to endure from poverty, oppres- 
sion, intemperance and vice of every kind ; evils, personal, 
social, national ; famine, war, pestilence, are but needful in- 
flictions of the rod, to bring men to a proper sense of sin, 
as an offense committed against a God of infinite holiness 
and purity. Times of wide spread and intense calamity 
have often served to awaken the public conscience and 
quicken a religious spirit among men. At such times the 
gospel has proved a welcome message to those who could 
see no relief in the condition of this world. And if we read 
" the signs of the times " aright, such a season is rapidly 
approaching. Terrible judgments are gathering like clouds 
over the horizon ; while the rumbling of the earthquake 
may already be heard. And when the lightning of heav- 
en's wrath has been discharged, then may we look for bet- 
ter times, and a more rapid spread of the gospel than has, 
perhaps, yet been witnessed on earth. 

Meanwhile men busy themselves in discovering, or rather 
inventing, reasons for the evil that is suffered. They as- 
cribe it to a wrong education, or to constitutional weak- 
ness, or to a false condition of social organization, to prejiv 
dice and evil example. Perhaps they go to the length of 
ascribing the blame to their Maker for having constituted 
them such as they are. All this, while they do not see or 
will not acknowledge the great radical cause, which is sin, 
the alienation of man from his Maker. But till they are 



28 DEATH THE CONSEQUENCE OF SIN. 

brought to this point, they will never seriously seek the 
only adequate remedy, which is no other than an humble, 
believing reception of the gospel of Jesus Christ. 

Yet it is not that God has withheld the means of discov- 
ering the true cause of the evil that is in the world that 
men remain ignorant of the same. He has not only told us 
in His word, in the most explicit terms, that death is the 
wages of sin ; He has not only placed conscience in every 
human breast to act as His vicegerent, by reproving us 
when we do wrong, but he has taught us the same lesson 
by the analogy of physical nature, or what we usually term 
the light of reason. 

The infringement of physical laws is followed by pain, 
disorder, and finally by the dissolution of our bodily frame. 
If I expose myself to the extremes of heat or cold, I must 
suffer the consequences, and these are often pretty severe. 
By his own experience or by learning from that of others, a 
man begins to know quite early in life the most important 
laws that affect his bodily system, and there are few so ig- 
norant or so silly but that they can avoid what would be 
destructive of life. 

But if the body is thus subject to certain laws, which 
must be carefully observed if we would maintain a com- 
fortable measure of health, is it not an easy inference that 
there must be laws of mind, which we must obey if we 
would be at ease ? And if the pain of fire warns me to 
keep at a proper distance, should not the pain occasioned 
by an immoral act teach me to abstain from the repetition 
of the same. 

Or if habit renders that easy and even pleasant which 
was at first painful and disagreeable, is it strange that the 
same principle should operate in regard to our moral con- 
dition, enabling a man to commit without compunction and 



DEATH THE COXSEQUEXCE OF SIX. 29 

even with pleasure crimes at which, in an earlier stage of 
viciousness, he wouki have shuddered with horror and dis- 
gust ? 

And if, in the Providence of God, tljere are remedies 
provided for almost every ailment, which if properly ap- 
plied and faithfully persevered in^ will restore the diseased 
frame to its original vigor ; can we doubt that a remedy 
would also be furnished by our gracious Creator and Sov- 
ereign, by which the disorders of our moral nature may be 
healed ? 

Further if a course of abstinence and self denial in regard 
to the gratification of appetite is required to enable us to 
recover and maintam bodily health, need we wonder if we 
are called upon to deny ourselves and crucify our sinful af- 
fections, in order to recover and maintain spiritual health ? 
And if the simplest remedies are often the most effectual in 
removing the disorders of the body, is it to be accounted 
strange that the means provided for the recovery of otir 
souls should be apparently of the most simple kind ? 

Again, if confidence in the physician is of the utmost im- 
portance towards the ejfecting of a cure, is it vv'onderful 
that imphcit confidence in the great Physician should be an 
indispensable condition of enjoying His aid '? And while we 
are influenced in bodily matters by the example and expe- 
rience of others who have made trial of certain remedies 
and found them effectual, why should we not take the same 
course in relation to our spiritual concerns ? In short, if 
trial and experiment is the ground of our confidence in 
using remedies for the restoration of health, though we are 
puzzled to account for the manner of their operation, why 
should we refuse to apply spiritual remedies, because there 
are some things connected with them that we can not com- 
prehend ? 



30 DEATH THE COXSEQUEXCE OF SIN. 

Finally, if there are diseases whidi, whether from neg- 
lect or other causes, have become desperate and must end 
in death, in the destruction of our mortal frame, is it won- 
derful that there should be a state of spiritual malady, 
which is past cure and must terminate in final and remedi- 
less misery, in that death which is the wages of sin ? 

Thus there is a wide extended analogy, from which we 
may learn that if men would but exercise the same prudence, 
forethought and care in respect to their souls, their true 
self, which they manifest toward its frail companion, they 
might recover and enjoy spiritual health. 

The first requisite is to be made sensible of their disor- 
dered condition ; to feel and acknowledge the radical dis- 
ease of their souls, and that is sin, alienation fi*om God, the 
only source of spiritual light and life. But the most of us 
are so entirely absorbed in the care of the body, as scarcely 
to be conscious that they have a soul, w^hich must be happy 
or miserable throughout eternity, according to its condition 
on leaving this world. Hence our Saviour's admonition, " Be 
not anxious for your Hfe, saying what shall we eat or what 
shall we drink, or wherewith shall we be clothed — but seek 
ye first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all 
these things shall be added unto you." 

But to become conscious of his sinful condition, a man 
must be made sensible of the authority of God over him and 
of his absolute and entire dependence upon his Maker for 
every thing good ; for " every good and perfect gift cometh 
down from the Father of lights, with whom is no variable- 
ness, neither shadow of turning." " There is one lawgiver, 
who is able to save and to destroy." His authority is ab. 
solute and to reject or neglect it is to prepare ourselves for 
final destruction. " The wages of sin is death." It is its 



DEATH THE CONSEQUENCE OF SIN. 31 

rightful reward. And every conscience will one day assent 
to the truth of this assertion. 

Even those unhappy beings, who on the day of final set- 
tlement shall hear with dismay those terrific words, " De- 
part from me ye cursed into everlasting fire, prepared" not 
originally for you, but ^' for the devil and his angels ;" even 
they will then assent to the justice of their doom, and the 
perfect righteousness of the sentence which pronounces it. 

Then all those excuses and doubts which now^ spring up 
almost spontaneously in the minds of sinners wall vanish in- 
to air before the light of divine truth, whose bright vibra- 
tions, as one has expressed it, will be hell, to every uncon- 
verted, unhumbled and unholy soul. They will then see 
that they have none to blame for their final ruin but them- 
selves, because they would not apply to the compassionate 
Saviour, now changed into a stern and inexorable Judge. 

The greatest and most plausible objection against the 
moral government of the world, and the final sentence that 
will be pronounced upon the incorrigibly wicked, is de- 
rived from the fact, that all men are born with depraved 
inclinations, and a sinful nature. " If we are by nature 
prone to evil and cannot do right," they will argue, " how 
can our vicious conduct be imputed to us ? We did not 
create ourselves, nor give to ourselves that sinful nature 
with which we were born. How then can we be blamed 
for what we could not help ? " 

It might be a sufficient answer to this objection, that we 
are clearly taught that no one will be finally punished for 
what he could not help, but for those actual and voluntary 
sins, for which his own conscience condemns him ; for re- 
jecting the ofi*ered grace of God, and for continuing in im- 
penitence in spite of every divine effort to reclaim him. 
^' This is the condemnation," says the Saviour, '' that light 



32 DEATH THE CONSEQUENCE OF SIN. 

is come into the world, but men loved darkness rather 
than light." Again He says, " If I had not come and done 
those works, which no other man did, they had not had 
sin, but now have they no cloak for their sin." 

Such things have indeed been taught, and perhaps are 
yet taught here and there, as that there are children in 
hell who have never actually sinned ; condemned solely on 
the ground of their inherited corruption. But the Bible 
teaches no such thing. Its language is plain and decisive. 
" What mean ye," says the Lord by His prophet, " that 
ye use this proverb concerning the land of Israel, saying, 
the fathers have eaten sour grapes, and the children's teeth 
are set on edge ? As I live, saith the Lord God, ye shall 
not have occasion any more to use this proverb in Israel. 
Behold all souls are mine ; as the soul of the father so also 
the soul of the son is mine. The soul that sinneth it shall 
die." And to explain and enforce this truth, the whole 
chapter is employed, ( as you may see by referring to Ez. 
18th,) closing with the solemn appeal: "Yet saith the 
house of Israel, the way of the Lord is not equal," (not fair 
and impartial.) " 0, house of Israel, are not my ways 
equal, are not your ways unequal ? Therefore, I will judge 
you, O house of Isaael, every one according to his ways, 
saith the Lord God. Repent and turn yourselves from all 
your transgressions ; so iniquity shall not be your ruin. 
For I have no pleasure in the death of him that dieth, saith 
the Lord God : wherefore, turn yourselves and live." 

I do not see how words could be plainer, or how any 
one can venture to ascribe to the Holy One a course of 
conduct which He so pointedly and positively disclaims. 
As an additional confirmation of the principle laid down in 
our quotation, let me remind you of what the Lord said to . 
Jonah, when the prophet was displeased at seeing his pre- 



DEATH THE CONSEQUENCE OF SIN. 33 

diction unfulfilled respecting the destruction of Nineveh, in 
cons^uence of their repentance : " Should not I sj^are 
Nineveh, that great city, wherein are more than six score 
thousand persons that cannot discern between their right 
hand and their left ? " showing that God has a particular 
respect to children, as not yet having committed actual sin. 
But you will say. Do not children often suffer through the 
fault of their parents ? To be sure they do. And this 
leads me to another ti'ain of argument. 

It is a solemn truth, namely, that through the sin of our 
progenitor, in the garden of Eden, a dejDraved nature has 
been propagated to all his descendants born in the course 
of nature ; to which we have not contributed in any de- 
gree ; which yet is, in one sense, the source of all actual 
transgressions that have ever been committed. 

But while this is calculated to impress our minds with a 
vivid sense of the virulence of sin, that so slight a leaven 
(apparently) could leaven the whole mass of the human 
family, and while it should make us humble in view of our 
base origin and natural defilement, I know not that it is 
anywhei:e in Scripture stated as an aggravation of our 
guilt, but might rather be pleaded in extenuation — did not 
the superboundiug grace of God make it altogether unnec- 
essary. He is as ready to forgive the greatest sin as the 
least if we honestly confess it, are sincerely sorry for it, 
and willing to relinquish it. 

But however mysterious it seems that the whole human 
fimily should be involved in the ruin which Adam brought 
upon himself by transgressing the divine command, the case 
is not altogether without a parallel in natural things. To 
go no further for an example, how often do children inherit 
from their parents a feeble constitution and the seeds of 
disease. Their start in life, too, depends very much upon 

2* 



34 DEATH THE CONSEQUENCE OF SIN. 

the position of their parents as to wealth, influence, etc. In 
short, God who has made of one blood all the nations of the 
earth, has been pleased so to concatenate their interests 
that each exercises an influence more or' less powerful 
over his neighbor ; and while, on the one hand, this influ- 
ence is often of a most deleterious kind, it is accompanied 
by advantages that more than compensate for all the evil. 
For on this depend the various charities of life ; the rela- 
tions of husband, wife, parents, children, brothers and sis- 
ters. From this arrangement of Providence flow all the 
blessings of social order, government, laws, the improve- 
ment of arts and sciences, the refinements and courtesies of 
life ; every thing, in short, that distinguishes civilized and 
cultivated man from the savage of the wilderness, and even 
what makes it practicable to raise the savage from his de- 
gradation, by imparting to him the blessings of civilization 
and religion. 

Now it might be a sufficient reply to those who would 
draw a ground of complaint against Providence from the 
evils that sometimes result from such an organization of the 
human family, that the good far overbalances the evil ; and 
that, so far as we can see, the evil is inseparable from the 
good. 

But we may discover the tender solicitude of our 
Heavenly Father for the welfare, especially of his rational 
creatures, in that sort of compensative principle of which 
we find traces everywhere. Thus, if a child has inherited a 
feeble constitution, it is, in the first place, an object of pecu- 
liar care and tenderness to its parents, by whom it will be 
watched and sheltered with double precaution, and whose 
afifection will commonly increase in proportion to their anx- 
iety for the child. And is not this of itself a sufficient com- 
pensation for any sufferings the child may endure ? 



DEATH THE CONSEQUENCE OF SIN. 35 

Besides, those whose constitutions are slender, have fre- 
quently a greater sensibility; their joys as well as their sor- 
rows are more acute ; their muids are often developed 
more rapidly, and if their lives are shorter, they live more 
in a few years than others in many. Again, they are less 
liable to be carried away by the temptations that ruin so 
many promising young persons for time and eternity. Bax- 
ter acknowledges it as a peculiar favor of Providence that a 
feeble, sickly body, subject to constant pain, had prevented 
him from running into the extravagances of his companions. 
Pain and sickness are often made the occasion of bringing 
a man to his senses, of teaching him to reflect and of lead- 
ing him under the influences of the Holy Spirit to true re- 
pentance, and thus insuring to him an eternity of bliss, 
which will more than counterbalance all the sorrows and 
sufferings of the present life. 

And in general we may take for granted, that all the 
evils which a man has not brought upon himself will be 
made up to him in some part of his existence. Nothing has 
had such a tendency to keep alive the expectation of a fu- 
ture state of reward and punishment, and an operative 
belief in a just God who rules in heaven and earth, and of a 
coming judgment, as just this universally observed inequal- 
ity of the distribution of earthly comforts. The sighs and 
wishes of the wretched have from the earliest ages been di- 
rected to that place " where the wicked cease from troub- 
ling and the weary are at rest." 

It has long been observed by persons of reflection that 
the good things of this world are more equally distributed 
than would at first sight appear to be the case. So much 
is one thing set over against the other, as the son of Sirach 
observes, that in striking the balance few if any seem to 
enjoy any great prerogative. 



36 DEATH THE COXSEQUEXCE OF SIN. 

But is there any sign of this compensative principle being 
applied to our spiritual interests ? We think there is. And 
first, with respect to the universal corruiDtion of our nature, 
from which our reasoning took its start, the very fact that 
it is universal, that none whatever are exempt from its in- 
fluence, speaks of impartiality. All are on a footing ; all 
alike are sinners. And it would be impossible for us short- 
sio^hted creatm-es to decide who are the o'reatest sinners. 

But that we have been reduced to this unhappy condi 
tion without any fault of our own, how is this to be recon- 
ciled to the justice of God. Here again we may trace the 
principle that we have liitherto elucidated. " For as by one 
man's disobedience many were made sinners; so by the 
obedience of one shall many be made righteous." In short, 
the wonderful plan of human redemption through the obe- 
dience and sufferings of the Son of God — a plan conceived 
from eternity by the infinite Mind, and which combines in 
one the strictest justice and the largest mercy — this, and 
this alone, serves to explain the mystery that God suffered 
all men to fall under sin, inasmuch as they one and all bring 
a sinful nature with them into the world. 

Xow, though it is indeed impossible for any one to be just- 
ified on the ground of his own obedience,for " all have sinned 
and come short of the glory of God," but to all that believe 
in the Lord Jesus Christ, their sins shall be blotted out, 
they are justified in virtue of the meritorious work of Christ. 
As we are all affected for evil by our connection with the 
first man, so we are all interested in the merits of the sec- 
ond man, the second great representative of our race and 
nature. 

Yet there is room for the exercise of our free agency. 
For it is by the active exercise of faith that we partake of 
the virtue that is in Christ. Thus our loss is more than 



DEATH THE CONSEQUENCE OF SIN. 37 

made up to us. We are placed in more favorable circum- 
stances, with all our native infirmities, than was Adam 
when he proceeded from the hands of his Maker, pure and 
holy. 

Now, just as in our earthly relations, a man's circum- 
stances and connections, his parentage and education, have 
a powerful influence for good or evil, but yet, it depends 
upon his own exertions, to improve the advantages, or to 
counteract the disadvantages of his situation ; and as this 
very exertion is calculated to call forth and improve his 
powers — so, with proper allowances — while on the one hand 
our inborn corruption presents a great obstacle to our at- 
taining a character of holiness, and on the other hand, the 
goodness of God affords abundant means of counteracting 
the evil bias of our nature — yet our own activity must be 
brought into exercise, if we would be benefited by all the 
means, wonderful as they are, which a God of infinite mer- 
cy employs to bring us back to our allegiance to Him as 
our Sovereign, and our union with Him as our Father. He 
has made the way of our recovery plain and easy. But by 
negligence and inattention, no less than by willfal resistance, 
we shall assuredly forfeit the blessing, and our ruin will be 
doubly dreadful if we fail to secure our salvation. 

While the grace of God in Christ Jesus has superabound- 
ed toward our fallen race, it does not furnish the slightest 
inducement to sin. It is only so far as we are enabled by 
divine grace to overcome sin, that we actually share in the 
salvation by Jesus Christ. The principle is plainly laid 
down, that " the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God 
is eternal life, through Jesus Christ our Lord." 

If, then, w^e continue in sin, we must look forward to re- 
ceive its wages. And let no one imagine that this is a light 
matter, which one might consent to undergo for the sake of 



38 DEATH THE COXSEQUEXCE OF SIX. 

some present gratification. The death here spoken of is the 
death of the soul, the opposite to eternal life. It is the 
being deprived for ever of all comfort or hope of relief. It 
is to be shut out from the blissful presence of the Lord, 
who is the only source of joy to rational and spiritual crea- 
tures. It is to suffer the pangs of remorse, the gnawings of 
an avenging conscience, without a moment's intermission. 

If the pains of the body are often intolerable, what must 
be the jjangs of a soul suffering the horrors of the second 
death ? It is compared to fire as the most destructive 
agent and causing the severest suffering. It is hell-fire. 

'• Fools make a mock at sin.'' And, indeed, they are 
fools that do so. For by it we provoke the vengeance of 
Him '• who can not only kill the body, which is all that men 
can do, but who is able to destroy both soul and body in 
hell." To court the anger of that awful Being who sus- 
tains all worlds, with all their inhabitants, is a madness for 
which there is no name. And to neglect the means of se- 
eming His favor, when it is made attainable, is no less mad- 
ness. Better were it to fall into the hands of the most cruel 
tp'ant that ever vented his rage upon a fellow-mortal, than 
to be exposed to the wrath of the Lamb, and made to suf- 
fer His indignation which will devour His adversaries. 

It is sin that has kindled the fires of hell and that wiU 
keep them burning for ever. There is but one remedy for 
this evih The blood of Christ cleanseth from all sin. By 
humbly receiving this divine declaration and acting upon it, 
testifying our gratitude for so unspeakable a favor by con- 
stant obedience to all God-s commands, we shall be deliv- 
ered from sin and from its consequences. 

By rejecting this remedy we act like those infuriated 
Jews, who cried, " His blood be on us and on our children." 
We assume all the o-uUt of those who crucified the Lord of 



DEATH THE CONSEQUENCE OF SIN. 39 

glory. We cut ourselves off from all share in the paternal 
favor of God. We seal our own condemnation and judge 
ourselves unworthy of eternal life. 

Sin, what is it ? It is to disobey the righteous commands 
of the Kin^ of heaven. It is to abjure our allegiance to 
His government, to oppose His authority ; to endeavor to 
counteract His gracious purposes. It is ingratitude of the 
basest sort. It is moral pollution, rendering us unfit for the 
presence and society of holy beings. It is to be an object 
of aversion to a God of infinite purity, to be banished from 
His presence with indignant wrath. Sin is the source from 
which springs all the misery that exists in God's world ; it 
is the cause of all the misery we ever have felt or ever shall 
feel. It will be the torment of the damned, who will be 
objects of disgust and hate to themselves and to each other. 
Its wages are death. Endless woe and anguish untold and 
unimaginable. 

In exact proportion to the happiness and glory that we 
might have attained by proving ourselves faithful, obedient, 
grateful subjects of the divine government, as administered 
by Him to whom is given all authority and j^ower, in the 
same proportion will be the pain and disgrace to which a 
contrary course of life wdll subject us. 

Here w^e are on trial. The present life is the scene of our 
probation for eternity. 

Shall we, then, any longer harbor this deadly enemy, sin, 
in our bosom. 'Are we willing to part wath the last hope 
of salvation for the paltry gratifications of sense. Shall we 
continue to live another day aliens from the commonwealth 
of the spiritual Israel, enemies to God, and excluded from 
the benefits of the covenant, and exposed at every moment 
to be called to our final account? "The wages of sin is 
death." Are we content to receive these wages, rather 



40 DEATH THE COXSEQUEXCE OF SIX. 

than to be indebted to the grace of God for eternal life ? 
TTe have our choice, either to accept of salvation as a free 
gift, only acknowledging our obligation to divine grace, 
or to stand upon our own merits aod to be tried by the 
perfect standard of the divine law and to abidt; the con 
se<:j_uences. 

God is very patient with sinners. He ''is long suflering 
toward us. not willing that any should perish, but that all 
should come to repentance.*' Bat He will not suffer His 
patience to be insulted with impimity. He will not ahow 
His mercy to be trampled upon by sinners without visiting 
them for it. Just so great as is His compassion towards 
them that fear Him, so great will be His indignati-n 
towards obstinate, impenitent rebels. As yet He is seek- 
ing by His goodness to lead us to repentance. 

As yet we may approach His throne in the name of our 
common Lord and Saviour. But when once His patience 
is exhausted, when He shall swear in His wrath that we 
shall never enter into His rest — how shall we wish then to 
recover the blessed opportimities we now enjoy, how earn- 
estly shall we plead for one more trial, for one nryre cdbr of 
mercy; but in vain. "To-day then, if ye will hear His 
voice, harden not your hearts." 

If there is yet any desire to share in the salvation of His 
people, if there is yet one motion towards good, produced 
in \our hearts by the Holy Spirit, gently drawing you to 
the Saviour, oh ! cherish it, take care how you resist it. 
Fan it into a flame. Follow its attraction. Make your 
peace with God, lest yc'ii die for ever. 

This day let all the impenitent resolve to seek deliverance 
from the degrading bondage of sin. Let them ''return 
unto the Lord, and He will have mercy upon them; and to 
our God, for He will abundantly pardon.*' Say, what 



DEATH THE COXSEQUEXCE OF eiN. 41 

wrong has your Maker done you that you are so implac- 
able, when He sends His servants, in Christ's stead, to be- 
seech you to be reconciled unto God ? 

Has he not created you, given you all your feculties and 
powers of enjoyment? Has He not preserved you and 
watched over you from infancy and hitherto ? Has He not 
showered upon you mercies and benefits innumerable ? 
Has He not redeemed you from sin and death and hell, by 
the precious blood of His only begotten and beloved Son ? 

And what return have you made Him for all His kind- 
ness ? What will you say to Him in reply to His gracious 
invit-ation? All He asks is that you should love Him and, 
by submitting to His holy and wise government, put it in 
His power to make you as happy as your renewed, purified, 
expanded natures shall be capable of 

Who wishes to escape that death which is the wages of 
sin? Who is willing to submit to God ? "Believe in the 
Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved." "Turn ye, 
turn ye, why will ye die ?" 



SERMON III. 

GOD OUR LAWGIVER. 

There is one Lawgiver, who is able to save and to destroy. — ^James iv. 1^.. 

Iris a principle universally acknowledged in human af- 
fairs that a state of anarchy is more deplorable than the 
worst form of government that ever existed. The instances 
are abundant where men have been glad to seek shelter un- 
der the tyranny of an individual, from the violence of the 
multitude unchecked by law. 

If we had evidence that the universe was not governed 
by wise and wholesome laws, there would be some excuse 
for the madness of the atheist who pretends to disbelieve 
in the existence of a Supreme Ruler ; or of the Epicurean 
who, while admitting His existence, denies that God concerns 
Himself with the affairs of the world : a system but one re- 
move from absolute, blank atheism. 

In looking around for evidence on a subject of such vital 
importance, we need go no farther than the moral nature of 
man himself. This furnishes decisive proof that he is the 
subject of government ; and hence of the existence of a 
Supreme Governor, to whom he is accountable. 

At the same time, it speaks in language not to be misun- 
derstood of the wisdom, goodness and holiness of the great 
Moral Ruler of the Universe. 

Man's nature and faculties are such as to fit him to be the 
subject of laws. His conscience, which tells him when he 
does right and when he does wrong, bespeaks a coming 



GOD OUR LAWGIVER. 43 

day of judgment, with a certainty and expectation which 
none can get rid of by their utmost efforts ; so that the 
man who would seek to hide his fears on this subject, under 
a pretended disbelief of a future day of retribution, may 
best be left to the upbraidings of his own moral conscious- 
ness. 

We do not undertake to reason with one that denies the 
ultimate facts of his own rational nature, from which all 
reasoning must proceed. A man may assert, if he chooses, 
that he does not believe that all right angles are equal, or 
that things equal to the same are equal to one another. 
But we should not in that case attempt to convince him of 
the truth of any of the propositions of Euclid. 

Another may assert, if he sees fit, that the sun is not the 
source of light, or that the eye is not the organ by which 
light is discovered, but unless we have reason to think that 
he is deranged, we can not believe him serious in making 
the assertion. And as the eye, by its wonderful adaptation 
to the rays of light, shows that it was designed to be the 
organ of sight, and thus proves the existence of an All-wise 
and All-gracious Being, who destined the eye for its appro- 
priate use, so does conscience prove that there is a wise 
and holy law to which man's spiritual nature is adapted by 
the same holy, wise, and gracious God. 

But conscience not only proves the existence of a God, 
but brings us at once into the most intimate relation to Him 
as the subjects of His law. It proves that it is our duty to 
make ourselves acquainted with His law, and to obey it in 
every instance, so soon as it comes to our knowledge. It 
pronounces a sentence of just condemnation on every vol- 
untary neglect of duty, as well as on every voluntary trans- 
gression of law. It points as with a sunleam to the great 
Source of law and right, assuring us that to Him we are ac- 



44 GOD OUR LAWGIYZE. 

conntable for every thought, word, and deed, yolimtarily 
performed or entertained. 

Let us then, in the fear of the Lord, consider the subject 
presented by St. James in our text, viz : 

GOD, THE LATTGIYER OF THE UXITEESE. 

May He Himself direct our thoughts into a profitable channeh 

"There is one la^vgiver who is able to save and to de- 
stroy." 

In dwelling upon our theme, we sh^U consider, 7^>5f, the 
Lawgiver; Secondly^ the Law; Thirdly^ its Sanction. 

What^r^^^ claims your attention is the character of the 
Lawgiver, (There is One Lawgiver), which we shall present 
under the following points of view : His QuoMjications^ His 
Rights His Claim^ with its extent, and His assertion of that 
claim. 

God, and only God, is qualified to give laws to the uni- 
verse. Laws, to be good and useful, must be adapted to the 
condition of those who are to be their subjects. But none 
besides God can see at once all the capacities aud relations 
of all rational creatures toward Himself and toward each 
other, so as to determine the exact degree of duty of each 
creature, in its several relations. He is possessed of perfect 
knowledge. Hence, he can also judge of the operation of 
the laws. Foreseeing, as He did, that by a portion of His 
rational subjects His holy law would be broken. He alone 
could determine how far to let the consequences of this 
transgression proceed, and what counter-measures it would 
be proper to adopt. In short, by what means it would be 
practicable to set limits to these transgressions, that the 
whole rational and moral universe might not at length be 
involved in one vast and ruinous rebellion against the au- 
thority of the divine government. 



GOD OUR LAWGIVER. 45 

• 

God only could judge what were the motives most 
proper to be presented to free agents to secure then- volun- 
tary obedience. The difficulties involved in this qu(*stion 
were, indeed, such as called forth all the hidden resources 
of divme knowledge, wisdom and grace. 

None but God possessed the wisdom requisite to furnish 
a law, perfect in itself, and perfectly adapted to all the cir- 
cumstances of its subjects. 

Neither was any other being in a situation so highly 
elevated above all creatures as to be able to exercise the 
necessary impartiality in giving them laws. " God alone 
is not tempted of evil,'"' There can be no possible induce- 
ment for Him to neglect or violate the most perfect justice 
in giving and administering law. 

Should we suppose the case that all rational beings had 
once been destitute of all law and government. The first 
thing that would offer itself to their consideration would 
be to assemble and form for themselves some rules of mu- 
tual intercourse, and for the adjustment of their mutual 
rights and claims. 

And suppose that they looked around for a suitable per- 
son to frame such a code as their necessities required, they 
would want to commit this important work to one that 
was perfectly disinterested, as well as capable of adjusting all 
their conflicting claims. And where should they turn to find 
the proper character but to the Infinitely Wise and Good ? 

So that if God had left it to them to furnish themselves 
with a system of rules to guide them, their wisest part 
would have been to remit the whole matter to Him, accom- 
panied with the humble request that He w^ould provide 
them with suitable laws, and promising implicit obedience 
to all His enactments. 

It was infinite goodness, therefore, no less than infinite 



46 GOD OUE LAWGr-'EK, 

Tvisdom. tl:^t i!:n;iencei the A!!]:ighty in dving a law to 
all his rati ::.:.! --^b'-'Cts. It wa^ ^•o- '^'r^^ that c:iu5ed Him 

to instruct ti^^::: :::i ti-eir duty; t': :. th-in v;-Lat was 

right and best ::r t:".r ill tj d :' ut uii times; goodness, to 
re:.\;:r-r imyi:::: - ;,':; r ::: mi from them, and to make their 
du:y :,::- -''...:' '.:':": "ir-s centre in one. 

Bw: .\^ . _ ^ : . It : ;.ned in the Lawgiver of the Universe 
th^n ;h- ;;:::: n of vhsdom. justice and goodness. He 
mn-t p'lssess the anta-Mity tC' i:ii':':-^e. ana ^ - ~ a:* en- 
tovci' H::^ iaw5. JBotn t^ese ':j_ua^incatMns ai^ i-^:.Va:^. ia.x God. 
and in H'^n •- ^^V. 

Auth::::y IS of two kini-. antharity of character, and 
anthcrity :: -:ati:n, 

best a a aha T^ ay w;-^-;-, shih. an a na::v- aianity. is, by a 
sortoftah: ■: ;avrn:. ina-f-a: ' ' ' ' - o 

nai. .h:a;: - ::^: hy ^h:awr-ak _ :A. or 

should be ::_t:harin :nr :a :hr snn;"s V-\:-r^- ■:- t;_- wiae 
ocean, their muta:' ^ .- - - - . ^ 

outany:n„ah ^ ^ : a ri the whole 

nation ^ a^-^^^Iel. 

Evt : n n a_ ; ^- n : : n, ^ .- the 

briaa h.:.: :an ^nanvare with the Almighty? Had He not 
r " ' :- h aa.. -a -::-h] He wai^e Hi. ck- - " -- 

th. n, _ ^.ty of Hi^ a-n-a point Him aa: a^ ti.. -hy .aita- 
ble Sovereign o: thr Fniv^r--. the ^aiy <:a- ht to he the 
Lawgiver and Judge of the immense empire. 



GOD OUR LAWGIVER. 47 

To this authority is joined infinite power to enforce or- 
der, to maintain the respect due to the laws. None can 
escape from His hand, or hide himself from His presence. 
Whither should the culprit flee from the face of the Lord ? 
By what precautions could he prevent detection, or secure 
himself against the merited punishment ? Or, with what 
sum could he bribe the Judge to let him escape ? Thus 
the power combined with the holiness of the Lord renders 
Him fit to be the " One Lawgiver, who is able to save and 
to destroy. " 

We proceed to dwell for a few moments upon the right 
of God to be the Lawgiver of the world. This is founded 
upon the clearest principles of jjistice; the right of property 
in the work of our own hands. This is what the Psalmist 
acknowledges in the huudreth psalm. " Know ye that the 
Lord He is God ; it is He that made us, we are His." "We 
are His workmanship." " He hath made of one blood all 
nations of men for to dwell on all the face of the earth." 
With this fundamental truth, therefore, the oracles of our 
faith begin, declaring that God made heaven and earth, the 
sea and all that i3 them is. Thus was He worshiped by the 
Patriarchs as the Creator, and therefore the possessor of 
heaven and earth. 

To this right the Lord lays claim in those words of the 
prophet. " Woe unto him that striveth with His maker ! 
Let the potsherd strive with the potsherds of the earth. 
Shall the clay say to Him that fashioneth it. What makest 
thou ? Or thy work, He hath no hands ?" Adding the in- 
dignant challenge, " Ask me of things to come concerning 
my sons, and concerning the work of my hands command 
ye me ;" see what you will gain by such audacity. As all 
creatures were made by God of His good pleasure, so all 
belong to Him by an unquestionable and indefeasible right. 



48 GOD OUR LAWGIVER. 

He could as soon cease to be, as cease to be the rightful 
Owner and Lord of all creatures animate or inanimate, men, 
angels or devils. All are subject to this power, and of right 
ought to be. Nothing but the excess of wickedness can 
deny His right. Nothing but extreme madness can doubt 
it. We may just as soon believe that there is no God, as 
that He has not the right to do what He pleases with His 
own, and to govern His creatures according to such laws as 
in His wisdom He sees fit to give them. He is our Law- 
giver, He is our King. To Him we owe all possible sub- 
jection, homage and reverence. 

God not only possesses the right to claim our obedience, 
but He puts in His claim. " If I be a father," He says, 
" where is mine honor, and if I be a master where is my 
fear ?" " Hear O Israel, the Lord our God is one Lord ; 
and thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart 
and mind, and soul and strength." Thus has God presented 
His claim in distinct terms, as contained in His word. No 
one acquainted with this word, whether by hearing or by 
reading, can therefore plead ignorance of the claim which 
God makes upon his obedience and service. 

It will not do to pretend we do not know whether it is 
God's word or not, in which this requirement is made. The 
case is so plain that no sound mind can raise any doubts. 
We may not have thought of our duty. But when we are 
reminded of it, no matter how or by w^hom, it commends 
itself at once to our conscience and reason. Were it a 
child, or were it Satan himself that pronounced the words, 
every reasonable mind would acknowledge their truth and 
propriety. How great, therefore, is their authority when 
we read them in a book that has the impress of God's hand 
on every page ! 

This very claim of universal obedience from every ra- 



GOD OUR LAWGIVER. 49 

tional subject of His empire is a proof that the book which 
contains it, and contains nothing that is not perfectly con- 
sistent with it, is a proof, I say, that the Bible is God's own 
word. This by the way. 

But besides His word, God has put forth His claim in 
His works. He has subjected all nature to certain laws, 
our mental and bodily constitution among the resL The 
laws that govern material nature are obvious in some meas- 
ure to all. Our earliest experience makes us acquainted with 
them. To observe them is our wisdom. To neglect is folly, 
and brings with it the most disastrous consequences. And 
can it be supposed that He who has instituted law^s for the 
material world, should leave the far higher portion of His 
empire, the moral w^orld, to go on at random, without sub- 
jecting it to rule? 

But that we may have something more than analogy to 
convince us that God is our Law^giver in regard to our spir- 
itual nature. He has w^ritten His law, as we noticed in the 
introduction to our discourse, upon our hearts. He has 
given us conscience, the knowledge of right and wrong, 
with the indestructible conviction that we are accountable 
for our conduct. Every one that has ever felt that he has 
done wrong, and that he is punishable for the wrong done, 
has the evidence in his own breast that God is his Lawgiver 
and claims his obedience. He may deny it in words. He 
may pretend to feel quite at his ease. But his heart gives 
the lie to his tongue. He can not look forward to the time 
when he shall be called to leave this earthly scene with any 
degree of composure, for then he knows he must meet his 
Maker face to face. He may expel the thought for a time. 
He may distract his attention in a variety of ways, by dis- 
sipation, business, reading, study. But when the thought 
of death presents itself with any degree of vividness to his 



50 GOD OUE LAWGIVER. 

mind, as it will from time to time, it makes a cold shudder 
run over him. He is like the rest of men— while uncon- 
verted — in bondao^e all his lifetime throuo;h fear of death, 
" God has not left Himself wdthout witness" as the " Law- 
giver w^ho is able to save and to destroy." 

This claim which the Lord puts in, extends to all rational 
beings, to the church, to the world, to angels and devils. 
They are all subject to Him, and amenable at His tri- 
bunal. "He hath appointed a day in w^hich He will judge 
the w^orld by that man w^hom he hath ordained." The an- 
gels w^hich kept not their first estate, but left their ow^n 
habitation. He hath reserved in everlasting chains under 
darkness unto the judgment of the great day." The re- 
fusal to submit to His holy law^s will not release any one 
from his obligation. He will find, one day, that an exact ac- 
count has been kept of all his offences. His indebtedness 
will go on increasing unto the day of final reckoning. 
Then every charge will be read aloud against him, and due 
punishment inflicted for every fault. For God will assert 
his claim to the subjection and obedience of all His rational 
subjects. He does assert it. In the case of the first sinner 
He has asserted it. 

For this the devil w^as driven out of heaven, with all that 
had joined in his rebellion. 

For this Adam was cast out of Paradise, and subjected 
with all his race to sufferings and death. 

For this the old world was drowmed by the flood ; Sodom 
and Gomorrha overthrown by fire from heaven; nations 
once powerful and splendid consigned to utter desolation. 

For this individuals are visited with sickness and ruin ; 
with anguish of soul and horror of mind. 

God asserts His supremacy with a rigor not to be made 
light of. The judgments of the Most High are not to be 



GOD OUR LAWGIVER. 51 

trifled with. The greatest severity of an earthly judge 
may be set at naught, and has been by men of stern resolve 
and strong nerves. For he can but kill the body, and af- 
ter that has no more that he can do. A few hours, or a 
few days at most, will put a period to the most extreme 
torments inflicted by human hands. 

But no one can calmly or resolutely meet the anguish in- 
flicted by the sentence of the Lawgiver, who is able eflec- 
tually to save or to destroy. The fire kindled by His 
wrath will never be quenched. The tortures caused by 
His judicial sentence will last forever. 

Having spent some time in considering the character of 
the Lawgiver, we proceed under our second grand division 
to treat of the Law, The law of God in its largest sense 
embraces all things, animate or inanimate, matter or mind. 
There is a law which guides the course of a river, or the 
revolutions of a world. Lideed, there is not a particle of 
dust, or an atom in creation that is not under some law. 
But when we speak of law in its more restricted sense, we 
mean the commands which God, as Lawgiver, has given to 
His rational subjects, -which, in consequence of the free 
agency with which He has endov/ed them, they can obey 
or disobey. 

This gives rise to an important distinction between what 
are termed natural and moral laws. 

A natural law is one to which matter or mind, as such, is 
subject, whose operation cannot be stayed nor altered by 
man. It is a necessity by which all created (xistence is 
bound. 

A moral law, on the contrary, can only be obeyed by 
the free consent of the subject. 

The one may be compared to the walls of a prison that 
prevent all egress. The other to the orders of a fatlier or 



52 GOD OUE LAWGIVZIi,. 

amagistrate, whicli 3!! dutifal cliildren or obedient subjects 
will observe, but which yet any one that chooses can disre- 
gard, and take the consequences. 

But. in our present mixed state, the two often run into 

:her in a manner dinioult to be described, and yet 

r..-:hy easy to be und^"'"^''? 1, The truth is, th^" ^? -/-n 

LM kiio'viiigw violate a . _ law but we are Sc t . 

Whhe to viohi.te a natural law is just impossible. But there 

hearts. And there are natural laws to which mmd is sub- 
ject. wh::h can not be intringed. 

But when we speak of the law of Gcd, and of Him as 
Lawgiv-ic we mean those commands which He has given us 
to r^rguiate our voluntary actions, and by means of the-e. 
our thC'Ugh:-. desires, and emc'tic'ns. as well as c^ur 
toward Him a- cur Lord, an i - — ' ' "' u'cs, 

and resp-c:i::g cur^eivc^. Ta: _ :ver 

waymc^c ^u;'^:a acj the ia^.vs c ___^ _ :. bv 

■vhich we shah '; 7 ' ;. caed, and our nnal destiny decided. 

Bu: what is tiie :: end character oz thr^f laws '? To 

treat this sul>]ect va... cay degree of - - - - " -^ ; - -^^ ■- - -i 1 
require a c-urse ca' ^c:m:ns. TVc -ia _ : 

coat-a: cac — i-a- '"ih: a Tt-v „tC :a This we 

Wi-iUi. L'iicV '. /j-. /._■ ~^.0 - ._. ,;.::; ij c-"v- 

dte them i 

TTtr hr_:a with a remark as just as it is c: 
law ',: w:] i- a tcaa^:' ^ £vcC}" p:\c: ^A it 

beaCS t C r ' -C ■ ' - M xii:? x^'^'^iiac - - . _ W __ -,,-.-. - , -j ^|^j;_ 

icr. Evc.^- - ^ .md pare being :a -a ait, 

a 1 must be sensible that it is th 

l-acpiacss. It is : ' '1 by its observw promote 



GOD OUR LAWGIVER. 63 

the welfare of the creature in perfect harmony with the 
glory of the Creator. Its language is, in all its various forms 
and applications : Do thyself no harm. Cultivate the per- 
fection of your nature. Manifest your relationship to God 
by acting in your sphere and degree on the same principles 
on which He acts. "Be ye perfect as your Father in 
heaven is perfect." 

It is the advice of a kind and affectionate Father to the 
children whose happiness is dear to Him. They are the 
commands of a gracious and wise Sovereign, who seeks to 
promote the welfare and best interests of every part of His 
subjects. 

In short, it is the law of order, of dihgence, of love. So 
far as it prevails among men, just so far their true peace and 
happiness is promoted even in a temporal respect. So far 
as it is neglected or disobeyed, confusion, hatred, envy, 
malice, intemperance, vice of every shade and name pre- 
vail, and with them, as flowing from them, misery, want, 
sickness, broken constitutions, sorrow, and anguish, abound 
and increase. 

For, let us but look at some of the chief commands. 
Love God above all, and thy neighbor as a second self, is 
the substance of the divine law. 

To set upon every object just such a measure of affection 
and regard as it deserves, according to its rank in the scale 
of excellence, is the part of true wisdom. Accordingly, to 
love the Lord our God above every thing is at once our 
highest duty and our highest wisdom. 

Some of these laws regard man as the creature of God, 
others as a fallen creature. The former (or what is gener- 
ally understood by the moral law) show man what he would 
have been had he not transgressed the divine command, and 
what, under the quickening and sanctifying power of the 



54 GOD OUR LAWGIVER. 

word and Spirit of God, he must again become in order to 
be the object of his Maker's comi^lacent regard. The latter 
(or the peculiar injunctions of the gospel) show unto him 
how he may recover his original rectitude and holiness. 

Thus, while the former, the moral law, the law, simply so 
called, presents to man the pattern of excellence, after 
which he is to strive with all his abilities, original or super- 
induced, the latter, the gospel, as so termed in contradis- 
tinction to the law, affords him the hope of becoming, 
through the mercy and grace of God, all that can make him 
holy and happy throughout eternity. 

But it is the law, properly so called, that we are at pres- 
ent concerned with. The fullest development of the moral 
law, in one connection, is that known by the name of the 
ten commandments, published in an audible voice from 
Mount Sinai to the assembled multitude of the Israelites. 

The circumstances under which it was given were peculi- 
arly solemn and impressive. There was the appearance as 
if the whole mountain were on fire, accompanied by awful 
thunderings and lightnings. Then the sound of a trumpet 
was heard, growing louder and louder, the same, we may 
suppose, that shall summon the quick and the dead into the 
presence of their Lawgiver when He shall appear as Judge. 
When all the people were assembled around the foot of the 
mountain, God Himself proclaimed His law to the tremb- 
ling crowd, who were to hand it down to future generations. 

These ten commandments have been preserved for ns in 
the volume of God's word. They contain imder four heads 
the duties we owe to God, generally called the command- 
ments of the first table, and summed up in that first and 
great command, " Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with 
all thy heart and w^ith all thy soul, and with all thy mind 
and with all thy strength." The remaining six contain our 



GOD OUR LAWGIVER. 55 

duty to our neighbor, as that we shall respect our parents 
and other siqjeriors^ and not injure any in their bodies^ their 
property^ their morals^ or good name^ and finally shall not 
so much as covet any of their rights or possessions; all 
which, called "the commandments of the second table," 
are briefly summed up, says the apostle, in this one word, 
" Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself." 

But besides these two summaries of the divine law, the 
various duties implied in them, and their application to the 
varied circumstances and conditions of men, give rise to a 
multitude of rules for the government of our conduct, in 
our intercourse with others as well as in the privacy of re- 
tirement, all of which as discoverable by the light of reason 
or experience, or by express revelation, are to be consid- 
ered as the commands of our Lawgiver and to be respected 
as such. 

The principal sources whence we are to derive our knowl- 
edge of the divine law, mainly, are the three just men- 
tioned, viz. : Reason and conscience, experiencCj and the 
word of God. 

Reason and conscience teach us in a general way that 
there is a God who is the great Lawgiver of His rational 
creatures, and that we are bound to obey His law. They 
also intimate to us the grand distinction of right and wrong, 
teaching us that we shall be rewarded for doing right and 
punished for doing wrong. Still they are rather to be con- 
sidered as the organs whereby the soul apprehends duty, 
than the source of its knowledge of duty. Though, as here- 
tofore observed, many duties are so plain that for all prac- 
tical purposes they may be considered as taught immedi- 
ately by reason and conscience. But a further and fuller 
source of knowledge is experience, both our own and that 
of society at large. 



56 GOD OUK LAWGIYEE. 

It is evident, as already hinted, that no society can exist 
without some rules to regulate the intercourse of its mem- 
bers and some kind of government to enforce these rules. 
This is so self-evident that it is a common remark that even 
thieves and banditti must have some regulations for their 
guilty associations. 

From this source originate the laws of states, which are 
continually improving and approaching nearer to perfection 
as society progresses. These laws furnish to each subject 
of the state a standard of rig:ht and wa-ono^ less exnosed to 

O Ox 

the bias of self-love than would be furnished by his unaided 
reason or individual experience. To obey the laws of his 
country is not only his duty as a good citizen, but as a sub- 
ject of divine government. 

Therefore we are assured in Scripture that human gov- 
ernments are ordained of God, and to disobey (unless 
where their commands clash with the plain commands of 
God) is to ^' resist the ordinance of God and they that " so 
"resist shall receive to themselves damnation." 

But a third and the highest source of information on this 
important point of knowledge is the revealed will of God as 
contained in the Scriptures of the Old and Xew Testaments* 
This sacred volume is so full of instruction on this head, 
that scarcely a situation can be imagined for which they do 
not provide in' explicit terms. Though it is principally by 
studying the spirit of the divine commands that we shall be 
prepared to fulfill our various duties to God and society, to 
our families and ourselves. 

We hasten to say a few words upon our third general 
head, the sanctions of the divine law. A law without a 
sanction, that is, a penalty inflicted upon the disobedient, 
would be, in fact, no law, as every one might obey or diso- 
bey at his pleasure. 



GOD OUR LAWGIVER. 57 

The penalty, indeed, is so essential to the very existence of 
law, that it has almost come to be considered as the main 
thing about it. Thus, we should say that the law hangs a 
man for murder, and imprisons him for theft or other crimes. 

Yet the object of the law is not that the man may be 
hung or imprisoned, but that murder and theft may be pre- 
vented. It says, in effect, as the law of God says in ex- 
press words, thou shalt not kill, thou shalt not steal, &c. 

But what is the sanction attached to the divine law ? It 
is death. " The soul that sinneth, it shall die." For the 
first and the least offense it consigns the culprit to death, 
Nothing, perhaps, in the whole compass of the word of 
God, has called forth so much and so violent opposition on 
the part of unhumbled reason as this solemn declaration 
of God to His rational subjects. 

It would lead us further than time at present will admit 
to enter fully into the merits of the question. A few hints 
must suffice. 

And first, it must be observed that the law of God tries 
and judges the heart, while human law can go no further 
than the outward act, with some glances occasionally at the 
motives from which the guilty act originated. Thus, if a 
man were to direct a gun at his neighbor with intent to kill 
him, but it should miss fire, he would not by human laws be 
punished for murder, while in the sight of God he would 
be just as guilty as if he had actually perpetrated the deed. 
Now, if a man knowingly and purposely breaks any of 
God's commandments, he thereby rejects the authority of 
the Lawgiver as effectually as if he broke all. " For," as 
St. James' reasons upon this point " He that said, do not 
commit adultery, said also, do not kill. Now, if thou com- 
mit no adultery, and yet if thou kill, thou art become a 

transojressor of the law." 

3'^ 



58 GOD OUFw LAWGIVER. 

Indeed, so far as the case admits, human laws adopt the 
same principle. If a man has murdered another he is put 
to death, though there may be many laws which he has 
never broken. 

But again. As we have already said, the love of God 
strikes at the root, and looks to the heart. Thus, the man 
who is angry at his brother, without sufficient cause, is on 
the way that conducts to murder. He is a murderer at 
heart, and in principle. For this he is justly Uable. 

And thirdly^ the object of the penalty is to prevent the 
commission of the crime. And if the last penalty is not 
always found sufficient, what would a lighter one have 
effected? "Because sentence against an evil work is not 
executed speedily," says Solomon, " therefore the heart of 
the children of men is fully set in them to do evil." If 
the delay of the sentence has so injurous an effect, what 
would be the consequence if the penalty were lighter. 

In short, as God, who is goodness itself, has found it nec- 
essary to make death the penalty for the transgression of 
every and any divine law, we may rest assured that it was 
inconsistent with the best interests of His vast empire to 
inffict any lighter punishment. And this death is far more 
than the dissolution of soul and body, or what is termed 
natural death. It is the death of the soul, the second deaths 
eternal death. Such is the virulent nature of sin, such is 
tlie holiness and strictness of the divine law, that whoever 
knowinghv and wilfully transgresses, is condemned to the 
pains of etei-nal damnation. He is cast out froin the pres- 
ence of God, and consigned to the fire prejjared for the 
devil and his angels. Of this solemn truth v,e are assured 
in the woi'd of God. This is confirmed by our own con- 
consciences, and the dread which we ah naturally feel of 
death and of what is to follow. 



GOD OUll LAWGIVICi:. 59 

From tlie subject that has been briefly discussed we may 
learn that the law of God is not to be violated or neglected 
with impunity; that God is " of purer eyes than to behold 
iniquity" with any degree of allowance, and that it becomes 
us as accountable creatures to cultivate feelings of rever- 
ence and holy fear toward a being of such irresistible power 
and awful majesty. And while we are sensible of our in- 
nate weakness, and jDroneness to evil, let us bear in mind that 
this does not release us from our obligation to keep God's 
holy law. And conscious as we are that we have broken 
this law times and w^ays without number, we should be left 
totally hopeless of ever escaping the dread penalty of the 
law but for the infinite kindness of God, who desires not 
the death of any, but that all should come to repentance 
and to the knowledge of the truth ; and who has devised a 
way in which He can be "just and yet the justifier of him 
that beheveth ;" " who spared not His own Son, but gave 
Him up freely for us all, that whosoever believeth in Him 
should not perish but have everlasting life." Let us then 
gratefully, and without delay, flee to this refuge for sinners 
and " lay hold on the hope set before us," before the storm 
of divine indignation break over our head, and we perish 
with all the " contentious who obey not the truth, but obey 
unrighteousness;" for " there is one Lawgiver who is able 
to save and to destroy." " Yea, I say unto you, fear Him." 



SERMON IV. 

GOD'S LAW IS HOLY AND GOOD. 

" Wherefore the law is holy, and the commandment holy, and just, and 
good." — EOMANS vii. 12. 

Haying, the last time we were here assembled, spoken 
of God as the Only Lawgiver and Judge, who is able to 
save and to destroy, it will be suitable, and I trust not un- 
profitable, on the present occasion, to consider the character 
of the law which he has given us, and by which we shall be 
tried on the great day. 

We shall again, as we did the other time, confine ourselves 
to what is called the moral law, as contained in the ten com- 
mandments promulgated from Mount Sinai, and as com- 
prised in what our Lord calls the two chief commandments 
viz. : to love God with all our heart, and soul, and might, 
and strength, and our neighbor as ourselves. 

We would yet remark that the words of the apostle, 
which we have chosen for our text, directly refer to the last 
of the ten commandments, which says, " Thou shalt not 
covet." But as he has only selected this as a specimen of 
the manner in which his eyes were opened to see and real- 
ize the spirituality of the divine law, and that far from 
being leveled merely at the outward act of sin, it pronounced 
the evil desire, though it should never come into actual ac- 
complishment, to be sin. 

Having shown how this discovery, instead of causing him 
to desist from sinning, served only to provoke evil desire. 



god's law is holy and good. 61 

and to make him feel the weight of his chains more sensi- 
bly, he takes care to exonerate the law of God from all 
blame in the matter. " Was then that which is good 
made death unto me ?" he says, and adds, " God forbid." 
No such thing, "but" it was, " sin, that it might appear 
sin ;" might show itself in its true colors, as something in- 
tensely evil and hateful, as " working death in me by that 
which is good; that sin by the commandment might become 
exceeding sinful." " Wherefore," as he had just said, " the 
law is holy, and the commandment holy, and just, and 
good." 

These words will furnish the occasion to speak of the 
character of the divine law, as " holy, just, and good." 

May the Lord, the Lawgiver and Judge, give His bless- 
ing to our endeavors to derive instruction from His word. 

We shall consider the excellency of the divine law under 
a threefold point of view : as springing from a source that 
is holy, just, and good ; as holy, just, and good, in itself; 
and as calculated to make its subjects holy, just, and good. 

First, We are to consider the excellency of God's law as 
springing from a source that is holy, just and good. 

The law, we said in our last discourse, is a transcript of 
the mind of God, and necessarily partakes of the character 
of its author. Indeed it is from the moral law that we more 
directly obtain correct views of the moral character of God. 
The wonders of His hand, by which we are encompassed on 
every side, might convince us that God is a being of in- 
finite wisdom and benevolence. 

That lie is a holy God we learn from the nature of the 
law which He has given us. But having once acquired this 
idea, it is a self-evident truth that a law that proceeds from 
such a being must partake of His holy character. Nor can 
we be charged with reasoning in a circle in saying that we 



62 god's law is holy AiN-D GOOD. 

obtain the idea of holiness from the law, and that since God 
is thus shown to be a holy being, it must follow that His 
law also must be holy. For it is a dictate of reason, or, if 
you please, a first principle of natural religion, that to God 
belongs every moral perfection ; so that as soon as we are 
convinced that holiness is the summit of perfection, we are 
compelled by the very constitution of our natures to ascribe 
holiness unto the Lord. But the terms employed by the 
apostle express every kind and degree of moral excellence 
in so far as sinless beings are concerned. Of pity for the 
wretched and mercy to the penitent sinner, there can be no 
mention in a system of law, considered as such. 

But what are we to understand by the holiness, justice 
and goodness of God ? By His holiness we are to conceive 
of the immaculate purity of His nature ; that not only can 
nothing that is impure and defiling by any possibility cling 
to the character of God, but that He has an absolute and 
unconquerable aversion to it, so that nothing can be ad- 
mitted into His presence that has any stain upon it. ^' Thou 
art of purer eyes," says Habakkuk, " than to behold in- 
iquity." It is a source of unutterable disgust in the eyes 
of Jehovah. He is pure, and none but " the pure in heart 
shall see God." He is holy and nothing unholy can dwell 
in His sight. 

But He is also just. The former attribute has respect 
more especially to the intrinsic character of God, what He 
is in Himself. Justice and goodness have direct reference 
to other beings, how He is disposed and how He acts to- 
wards them. 

All right conduct towards others can be summed up un- 
der the two heads of justice and benevolence. Justice in- 
cludes in the idea of it that we give to every one his due, 
and that we do not exact from others more than is right. 



god's law is holt and good. 63 

JBenevoleJice implies that we relinquish some of our rights 
towards another, and that we do all we consistently can to 
make others happy. God is both just and good. 

Justice is the essential attribute of a Lawgiver and Ruler; 
faihng in which he would be unfit to govern. It is the office 
of a Ruler to see that the law is obeyed ; to reward the obe- 
dient subjects and to punish the disobedient. Hence we are 
assured that in due time God will judge the world; will 
try every man's w^ork, of wliat sort it is, and will reward 
His obedient subjects with eternal happiness and consign 
the W'icked to eternal misery. At present, indeed, it often 
w^ears the appearance as if the Lord did not take notice of 
what is going on in the earth. The poor and oppressed 
seem to cry to Him in vain ; the proud, the cruel, the vici- 
ous seem, to prosper in their undertakings. But this is only 
for a season, and is necessary in order that man may be on 
probation. 

But God is not only just. He is also good^ essentially 
good. A being that were just without being good we 
might fear and reverence, but we could not love. But God 
is deserving of our warmest love and most devoted attach- 
ment. For He is continually doing us good. Every day, 
every hour, every moment we are receiving new proofs of 
His benevolent regard. Our own constitution, bodily and 
mental ; all nature above and around us, teem with evi- 
dences of the goodness of God. 

Hence we might expect that His laws, by which He gov- 
erns the moral w^orld, would be holy, just and good. And 
such on examination they wall be found to be. 

Were we permitted to visit some distant planet peopled 
wdth rational beings, and did w^e find prevailing among them 
and diligently observed such laws as God has given us, 
whether as contained in His word, or as written on the 



64 god's law is holy and good. 

heart, we should pronounce such beings happy, and should 
admn-e the excellence of their laws, let them have origin- 
ated where they would. 

But in reference to the divine law, as made known to us 
and enjoined uj^on our diligent observance, there is a two- 
fold obstacle in the way, preventing us from acknow^ledging 
the excellence and propriety of the law of God. In the first 
place, the law is adapted to a state of innocence and spiritual 
soundness. It could not be otherwise without rendering 
law and government a nullity. For otherwise it would re- 
quire that, as the subject becaane more disobedient and op- 
posed to all wholesome restraint, the law should relax its 
demands, and thus, if any one had arrived, as we fear is 
often the case, at a state of absolute lawlessness, the law 
would cease to have any claims upon him. But this is too 
manifestly absurd to be maintained by any one that believes 
and admits that there is a God and that He is the lawful 
Ruler and Judge of all His rational creatures. 

Law iSj of course, adapted to a sound state of its subjects. 
That man by his own sin and folly has lamed his moral fac- 
ulties, and rendered himself incapable of yielding a proper 
obedience to the law that is holy, just and good, is no rea- 
son that the law should be lowered to his fallen condition, 
or that God should remit His claims upon man's obedi- 
ence. 

For, as we have already remarked, this would leave it 
optional to obey just so long as it suited his convenience, 
or to cast off his allegiance at once. 

But from those who lie under the condemnatory sentence 
of the law, it is hardly to be expected that they will ac- 
knowledge it to be holy, just and good, while it consigns 
them to the pains of eternal death. Hence, few are ready, 
sincerely to acknowledge that the law is good, while they 



god's LAAV is nOLY AND GOOD. 65 

feel that it pronounces upon them so dreadful a sentence. 
And it is, perhaps, the most satisfactory evidence of a true 
repentance when the sinner is brought to feel, and acknowl- 
edge sincerely and humbly, that this sentence is just and 
deserved on his part. Till he is brought to this stand he 
may have much seeming feeling, and show much earnest- 
ness in seeking salvation, and yet remain unreconciled and 
unforgiven. He may persuade himself, and others may be- 
lieve it of him, that he is truly converted, though all the 
while he continues at heart opposed to God and His law. 

For, as we hinted, there is a second obstacle, to a candid 
view of the divine law, underlying that of which we have 
just been speaking. I mean that man, before his conver- 
sion, is not only opposed to the strictness and spirituality 
of the law, but unwilling to acknowledge the authority of 
God and His right to give laws to His creatures. 

This includes so barefaced a rejection of God, as the 
Law^giver and Judge of His creatures, that it will not be 
uttered aloud by any that have the slightest respect left for 
their Maker. But does it not lie deep within every unre- 
generate heart ? Is it not, my unconverted hearers, the 
silent and scarcely perceived feeling that lurks in your 
breast ? Be candid with yourselves. You can gain noth- 
ing by imposing upon your own imderstanding. To shut 
your eyes upon the dangers of your situation, will not 
make those dangers less. To imagine that you are well, 
when a mortal disease has invaded your frame will not 
tend to your recovery. 

But is any thing else to be expected than that those who 
deny the right of God to interfere in any degree with their 
conduct and pleasure by His law, will, of course, not be 
willing to see and acknowledge that this law is holy, and 
just, and good. 



Q6 god's law is holy and good. 

And yet unbiased reason must confess that such is its 
character ; that in requiring us to love God, the greatest 
and best of beings, our Creator, Preserver and Benefactor, 
above every thing else, and our neighbor as a second self, 
the law requires nothing but what is holy, just and good, 
and to fail to do so would be a conclusive proof that a man 
is far gone in unrighteousness ; that he has no proper sense 
of what is good and right ; in short, that it is owing to the 
corrupt state of his heart that he does not at once see and 
acknowledge the perfect purity of the divine law. It is 
because to make such an acknowledgment would be to pro- 
nounce his own condemnation. 

On a calm and candid view, therefore, every precept of 
God's word will be found to be right ; every requirement 
an evidence of that holy, righteous and benignant charac- 
ter of its author ; every prohibition a warning not to do 
ourselves any harm. 

When, for instance, as vicious conduct is strictly forbiden, 
it is not only that it is displeasing to a God of infinite pu- 
rity, but it is degrading and injurious to the individual. 

Every sin that a man commits sinks him lower in moral 
worth, and makes his recovery to a state of purity and vir- 
tue more difficult. On the other hand, every good action 
performed, that is, from the right motive, strengthens the 
virtuous principle, and makes it easier to do right. 

Thus the law which enjoins holiness, and forbids sin, is 
itself holy, and just, and good. 

The law of God furnishes us with a perfectly true stand- 
ard of right and wrong, without which we should often be 
at a loss what was the proper course of conduct in a par 
ticular emergency. 

In a world like ours, interest and duty will often seem to 
clash, or rather different duties will apparently interfere. 



god's law is holy and good. 67 

How important, then, is it for our comfort and direction, to 
have a reliable rule to guide us through the intricacies of 
our chequered life ! How sad, again, is the condition of 
tliat man who acknowledges no autliority but that of his 
own capricious feelings and desires ! Like one that was 
steering for a distant port on the wide and trackless ocean, 
without helm or compass, he will sooner or later be dashed 
on the rock-bound coast, or sink in the quicksand that lines 
the beach. 

How unkind would it have been if our Maker had thus 
sent us adrift on the stormy sea of life, without that plain 
and safe directory which His holy law furnishes! How 
should we, if left in so unfortunate a condition, have ear- 
nestly requested of Him to give us a rule to govern our ac- 
tions by ! 

Thus, we may understand that the law is good, because 
it is calculated to make its subjects holy, just, and good. 

It will be granted, by any one that will give himself time 
to reflect, that all rational beings created by God are, or 
have been, on probation, for a longer or shorter term. 

This implies that they are at first in a lower state of ex- 
cellence than they are destined to reach. The improve- 
ment of their moral nature will depend upon the degree of - 
diligence which they manifest in the work assigned them by 
the Lord, and the vigor with which they resist temptation, 
or the patience with which they endure trials. For without 
trials of some sort there can be no probation, no virtue, no 
excellence, that deserves reward. Xow, what is the origi- 
nal and direct object of the divine law, but to inform its 
subjects what it is that God requires of them? Thus, the 
path of duty is made plain and more easy ; for it is evidently 
easier to accomplish any task when we know precisely what 
is to li e done, than if we have to go to work in the dark 



68 god's law is holy and good. 

and to feel our way as best we can. And in holding up be- 
fore our eyes the work assigned us, the law serves as a 
light to show us the way, and to make it easier for us to 
keep in the right path. 

Thus its natural tendency is to make us holy, just, and 
good, yet this is not its chief benefit. By displaying to us 
the character of our Maker and Judge in all its essential 
purity and excellence, it is calculated to fill us with rever- 
ence and awe, and thus to furnish a strong guard against 
the entrance of sin. Who has not felt how even the pres- 
ence of an acknowledged holy man — ^though our highest 
holiness is mingled with much imperfection — is a check upon 
his evil passions — how we seem to have a different nature at 
such times from what we experience when not under such 
restraint. Thus a heathen author, Xenophon, in the por- 
traiture of a good prince, makes his favorite say to him, 
that he had found out he had two souls, a good and a bad 
one ; and that in the presence of his lord the good one 
gained the day, so that it was easy for him to be virtuous ; 
while away from his noble friend he was but too ready to 
be overcome by temptation. If, then, the presence of a 
man whom we respect can have such a restraining and en- 
•nobling effect upon the mind, what may we not expect from 
the felt presence of the Holy One ? 

And how can we admit a sinful thought, when we know 
from His law how hateful sin is in His eyes, and how shall 
we not be incited to seek to be in the last degree holy, when 
we are assured that holiness is His delight ? 

Hence, David says, " I have set the Lord always before 
me." When Josej)h was tempted by a wicked woman, hear 
him exclaim, " how can I do this great wickedness and sin 
against God." And our blessed Saviour Himself strength- 
ened His heart by calling to mind the command of God, 



god's laav is holy and good. 69 

" It is written, thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God ; and 
again, " It is written, thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, 
and Him only shalt thou serve." 

Thus the direct effect of the law of God is to strengthen 
the virtue of its subjects, by holding up before them the 
holy character of the Lawgiver, and the pleasure He takes 
in the holiness of His rational creatures. 

But you will ask, why then is not this effect produced 
upon men, as it manifestly is not in, at least, the majority 
of cases ? This, as we have already had occasion to hint, is 
altogether owing to the degeneracy of the human family. 
Man is fallen from his original rectitude, and the poison of 
the serpent that tempted and prevailed over our first 
mother, Eve, has tainted the blood and corrupted the na- 
ture of the whole race. Hence the opposition of the na- 
tural mind to the law of God, because this would lay a 
restraint upon its desires. And while it feels that the de- 
mands of the law are just, and its sanction righteous, and 
dreads the sentence that it knows will be executed in due 
time, the unsubdued will of man rises in enmity against 
God and His holy law. The check put upon its passions, 
like a dam of drift ice in some mountain stream, only in- 
creases the violence of desire, till often it is seen madly to 
overleap all obstacles kindly intended to subdue it ; or else, 
it settles down into secret murmuring at the law, wishing 
only that it might with safety break through its inclosure. 

Thus, instead of making the sinner holy, it rather pro- 
vokes and increases his lusts, and causes him to break out 
into a firm rebellion, so soon as he feels the pressure of the 
divine law upon his conscience. 

But, notwithstanding, the law is good, and the command- 
menjb holy and just and good. It is well that the sinner 
should know his true condition. And though so long as he 



^0 god's law is holy and good, 

sees in God only an offended and sin avenging Judge, he 
can not love Him, nor approach Him with confidence, nor 
yield a cheerful obedience to His law, yet he is now in a 
fairer way to be helped in his misery than he was before he 
was made sensible of it. After many struggles to relieve 
himself, which he found to be altogether vain and fruitless, 
he is ready to lie down in despair, crying out with the apos- 
tle, " Oh ! wretched man that I am, who shall deliver me 
from the body of this death ?" He feels as if he Avere al- 
ready beginning to sink into the bottomless pit. Is there 
no remedy ? he asks. Is there no one- to take pity on such 
a wretched creature as I am ? 

But it often takes a long time before the convicted sinner 
is thoroughly humbled and brought to relinquish all hope 
o*f bettering himself by his own efforts. He still thinks he 
can do something towards his reformation. Therefore it 
needs that all the strictness and spirituality of the law be 
set before his eyes, that he may be made sensible that he is 
wholly carnal and sold under sin, that it is as impossible for 
him to put forth truly pure and holy desires as for a salt 
spring to send forth sweet water, or for a thorn-bush to bear 
grajDes. He must be convinced that in him, as he is by na- 
ture, in his flesh dwelleth no good thing ; that though to 
will is yet present wdth him, that he can feel a desire for 
something better, yet to perform that which is good is 
utterly out of his power ; that every attempt to raise him- 
self out of that pit into which he is fallen must end in dis- . 
comfiture. 

For a while, too, he is disposed to quarrel with his Maker 
for suffering him to fall into this ruin in w^hich he finds him- 
self He tiiinks it is too hard to consign him to endless tor- 
ment for the sins of this short life; as he looks upon God as 
a tyrannical master who requires impossibilities of His sub- 



god's law is holy and good. ^l 

jects, and then punishes them for not doing what was be- 
yond their power. 

But when, at length, the soul is truly humble and brought 
to give up the contest and to acknowledge that God is just, 
and His law is holy, just and good, then deliverance is 
at hand. Soon will he hear the gentle voice of the good 
Shepherd seeking the wandermg sheep : '' Come unto me, 
all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you 
rest." 

But our present subject does not lead us to dwell upon 
this. But let me call your attention particularly to this 
point, that it was the law which brought the sinner to the 
knowledge of his lost condition. As the apostle expresses 
it, " I was alive without the law once ; but when the com- 
mandment came, sin revived and I died." While' he was 
ignorant of the extent of the divine requirements and 
thought, as so many do, that a few outward observances, and 
refraining from open and disgraceful sins, was all that was 
needed to insure his acceptance with God — he felt quite at 
ease and knew no need of a Saviom\ Had a Saviour been 
recommended to him under these circumstances he would 
have considered himself insulted. 

But when his eyes w^ere opened to see the force of the holy 
law, reaching even to the thoughts and intents of the heart, 
and when he had sufficiently wearied himself with fruitless 
attempts to extricate himself by his own efforts, then, when 
he was just ready to give up all in despair, he was permitted 
to see the way in which God is willing and able, without in- 
jury to His justice, to receive every and any sinner, namely, 
the way of faith, so that he now joyfully exclaims, "I thank 
God through Jesus Christ our Lord." 

Thus, without the law man would have no consciousness 
of sin ; at least, no very definite or operative consciousness. 



72 GOD^S LAW IS HOLY AND GOOD. 

'' For by the law is the knowledge of sin ; " that, and that 
only, can tell us what sin is ; " for sin is the transgression of 
law." But till we feel deeply and painfully that we are 
sinners, we shall not long for salvation. 

Why is it that so many can hear the story of a Saviour's 
love without, or with only a passing emotion ? It is, that 
they have no proper sense of sin and its enormity and ill 
desert. Hence, the work of Christ appears to them very 
much as a work of sujDererogation. It may show His good 
intentions ; but they think that He put Himself to much 
unnecessary trouble. If they admit that His teachings 
were admirable, they have no idea of the necessity of an 
expiatory sacrifice. Christ's death may be that of a martyr, 
but not that of a sin offering. But w^hen a man has been 
brought to feel himself, as he really is, a condemned, hell- 
deserving sinner, then none but an Almighty Saviour can 
aid him, nothing short of the atoning death of the Son of 
God can pacify his conscience. But so soon as he has 
found these, all his fears are removed at once ; his sorrow 
is turned into joy, and his joy is re-echoed in heaven, for 
'' there is joy in the presence of the angels of God over 
one sinner that repenteth." 

But has the law now accomplished its office ? Has the 
reconciled sinner nothing to do with it any more ? Surely 
he has. For now his whole desire is to know the will of 
God in order to do it. And where shall he learn that will 
but by studying God's holy law ? This makes known to 
him his various duties towards his Maker, his fellow crea- 
tures and himself He now applies himself to the work of 
obedience, not in a legal spirit, as hoping thereby to merit 
eternal life, or indeed to merit anything at all ; but he 
obeys from a spirit of filial love and gratitude, with feel- 
ings like those expressed by the Psalmist, when he says, 



god's law is holy and good. 73 

"What shall I render to the Lord for all His benefits to- 
wards me ? " He has received the spirit of adoption, 
whereby, as the apostle speaks, " we cry Abba, Father." 
He can now appropriate the language of the Psalmist, " Oh ! 
how I love thy law. It is my meditation all the day." 

But what then does the apostle mean when he says, re- 
specting believers, " Now we are delivered from the law ; 
that being dead wherein we were held." In order to un- 
derstand this and similar expressions of St. Paul, we must 
bear in mind that he is speaking of the conditions of sal- 
vation, on what ground we are accepted, acquitted, or, in 
the language of Scripture, "justified." 

When a man's eyes are opened to see his accountability 
to God, while he feels, as he must, that he has fallen in 
debt to divine justice to .an incalculable amount, the ques- 
tion that will be started is that which Balak put to Balaam, 
" Wherewith shall I come before the Lord, and bow my- 
self before the high God ? shall I come before Him with 
burnt offerings, with calves of a year old ? Will the Lord 
be pleased with thousands of rams, or with ten thousands 
of rivers of oil ? Shall I give my first-born for my trans- 
gression, the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul ?" 
Or, as the Philippian jailor addressed the apostles Barnabas 
and Paul, " Sirs, what must I do to be saved ? " 

Now, in answer to this, we are distinctly told in Scrip- 
ture, that no efforts of ours to keep the holy law of God 
can avail. For suppose that we could from this time forth 
keep every divine precept without the slightest failure, 
this could not atone for one of our past sins. And were 
our past sins all forgiven on condition that we should never 
sin again, our case would be equally hopeless. 

Therefore God, when in His infinite compassion He de- 
signed to save man, devised a way by which all that will 

4 



74 GOD-S LAW IS HOLY AND GOOD. 

submit to His plan, and which is perfectly practicable for 
any one, shall be saved; He sent His only begotten and 
beloved Son into the world to die for sinners, to bear in 
His own sacred person the punishment due to our sins, and 
thus to work out a sufficient and everlasting righteousness. 
And wbosoevei' truBtsto this righteousness for acceptance 
with Gdd,; drsclaimiTig'ali jii^e.tejisions on the ground of per- 
sonal merit, but corilihg-ita^'.God in his true character of a 
sinner-deserving of hell, and pleading the merits of the 
Saviour aloiie', shall be saved, shalL be justified from all 
things,Trom w^hich he could never have been justified by 
the law, that is, by his own lame attempts at obedience. 

Shall he now go on in sin, that is, in violating the law, in 
hopes of being again forgiven ? Who can admit the un- 
generous thought ? Shall he that has suffered such anguish 
at the sight of his sins again sin, Avillingly, and of set pur- 
pose. No, surely not. ''How shall w^e that are dead to 
sin live any longer therein ?" The whole method of God 
in saving sinners is calculated to make us hate sin. Xo re- 
pentance is accepted, unless we are truly and at heart sorry 
that we have offended our gracious God and righteous 
Judge. Xow, to say we are sorry that we have sinned 
and to go on sinning willingly, is to give the lie to our pro- 
fessions of penitence. Bat God looks to the heart, and 
nothing but sincerity there can i^lease Him. 

Thus, the law of God will have its proper influence upon 
the regenerated soul. It will be a mirror in which he can 
see his duty ; a standard by which he can measure his ad- 
vances in holiness, while for justification and strength to obey 
God's commands he will look to the hills whence his help 
coraeth, to "Jesus who is made to us of God, wisdom, and 
righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption. Here 
w^e may see the riddle solved, how a Christian seeks with all 



god's law is nOLY AND GOOD. 75 

his powers to obey every command of the Lord, and yet when 
he comes to render up his account, he relies not on works 
but grace alone ; he abjures all pretension to be saved for any 
good he has done, or can do, and casts himself upon the 
free grace and mercy of God. And we may learn from 
this subject that unless we are earnestly striving after a 
more and more perfect conformity to the wdll of God, as ex- 
pressed in His holy law, we have reason to fear that we 
have never sincerely repented of our sins ; or if we have, 
that we " have forgotten that we were purged from our old 
sins " and have relapsed into carnal security, and are in dan- 
ger, unless we speedily return with weeping and supplica- 
tion to the Lord, that we may be numbered among those 
who were once enlightened and had tasted of the heavenly 
gift, and were made j)artakers of the Holy Ghost, and have 
tasted the good word of God, and the powers of the world 
to come ; but who have fallen away, and whom it is impos- 
sible to renew unto repentance. God forbid that such 
should be the sad lot of any of us, my hearers ! Amen. 



SERMON V . 

THE CAEXAL MIXD OPPOSED TO GOD'S LAW. 

** For the carnal mind is enmity against G-od, for it is not subject to the 
law of G-od, neither, indeed, can be." — Romans viiL, 7. 

Whex we consider the freeness of the gospel offer, as 
made to all that will come, and its largeness, as conveying 
blessings beyond conception great, one would suppose that 
all men, or a large majority, at least, would be ready to em- 
brace so gracious an offer. Yet it needs but little experi- 
ence to convince us that hitherto a small part only of those 
who live under the sound of the gospel have truly and from 
the heart believed. 

If we inquire into the cause of a conduct seemingly so 
strange, various reasons might be assigned, each of which 
has its share of influence in deterring men from embracing 
the gracious terms on which God offers to receive us into 
favor. One is, that men do not properly understand these 
terms. Many, like the Jews of old, '' being ignorant of 
God's righteousness, go about to establish their own righte- 
ousness." They want to do this, or the other, to make them- 
selves worthy of the divine favor, while the Scripture plainly 
teaches that it is the ungodly who are justified when they be- 
lieve on the Lord Jesus Christ. So long as a man thinks he 
can do something, be it ever so little, towards meriting 
eternal life, he will not submit to be saved purely of grace, 
and in consequence will not receive the pardon of his sins. 



THE CAllNAL MIND OPPOSED TO GOD's LAW. 77 

Others, especially such as have had theh^ conscience awak- 
ened, will be afraid to approach unto God, will think that 
their sins have been too great and aggravated to be for- 
given, while the great majority are so entirely taken up 
with the cares, the pleasures, or the honors of this world, 
as to have no time nor inclination to attend to the concerns 
of the soul. Indeed, the whole course of education, in most 
cases, is such as wholly to shut out the thought of God and 
futurity from the mind. The customs of society seem pur- 
posely intended to keep men from all care for the immortal 
part. Christians themselves have become so infected wdth 
the spirit of the w^orld, that their conversation has little or 
no influence for good upon their unconverted neighbors, 
but is rather calculated to encourage them to continue in 
sin, by making them feel as if there was no very material 
difference of character between them and the professed fol- 
lowers of the Saviour. 

But there is another reason why so many reject, of at 
any rate neglect, the gracious offer of their Maker, lying 
back of those we have just mentioned, and which is stronger 
than all the rest. This is brought to view in the words we 
have chosen for the subject of discussion to-day. 

" For the carnal mind^'''^ says the apostle, " is enmity 
against God^ for it is not subject to the law of God^ neither^ 
indeed^ can heP 

The whole bent of the soul, in the unregenerate, is op- 
posed to the wall and law of God. The secret thought of 
every unconverted person is, " Who is lord over us ?" The 
commands of our Maker are met either by a proud refusal 
of obedience, as in the case of those antediluvians " which 
said unto God, depart from us, and what can the Almighty 
do for them ?" and of Pharaoh, when he asked " Who is the 
Lord, that I should obey His voice to let Israel go ? I know 



'IS ^ THE CARNAL MIND OPPOSED TO GOD'S LAW. 

not the Lord, neither will I let Israel go ;" or else it is a 
hypocritical service that is yielded, like that of the Israelites 
concerning whom the Lord said, " This people draw near 
me with their month, and with their lips they do honor me, 
but huve removed their heart far from me, and their fear 
toward me is taught by the precept of men." In short, man 
Tby nature is like the wild ass' colt, determined to be his own 
master and to have his own way. Hence the struggle gen- 
erally is long and severe, before a man is brought sincerely 
to submit to the authority of God, 

But besides this fundamental opposition of the human 
heart to all command iand authority from without, the char- 
acter of the divine law is such as to be in direct contrariety 
to all the feelings and desires of the natural mind. " The 
law is holy, just and good;" Awhile the affections of the un- 
regenerate soul are impure and selfish. Spiritual duties are 
irksome to it. The restraints which religion would put upon 
to pursuits and enjoyments^ are felt as a burdensome yoke 
and irritating chain. It longs for liberty to rove at pleas- 
ure. It wishes to gratify its- ^various desires unchecked by 
law. It places its haj^piness in the indulgence of every 
earthly gratification and selfish aim. But to all this the 
holy law of God stands directly opposed. Hence the en- 
mity that is called forth whenever the authority of this law 
is pressed home upon the conscience. The sinner may for 
a season continue at ease, wrapt in a fond dream of carnal 
security and self-indulgence, unconscious of the claims of 
his Maker and his Maker's holy law. But, as the apostle 
speaks, "I was alive without the law" once; but w^hen the 
command.menji came, sin revived and I died." Let once 
Conscience be awoke to a sense of accountability to God, 
and the seci^t ^nniity that had slept so long ^5f@|l^te^ 
with it. The man will feel, if he will allowIBim^Qlf to 



THE CARJTAL MIND OPPOSED TO GOD'S LAW. '79 

reflect candidly upon his condition, that his whole soul and 
every desire of the mind are opposed to that holy law, which 
yet his reason and conscience tell him has an indefeasible 
claim upon his utmost obedience. Hence a real and deep_ 
seated hatred is produced. 

In violent characters this may break out in strong ex- 
pressions of defiance and opposition. In others it may man- 
ifest itself by a stubborn and dogged obstinacy. Some 
again will be driven almost to the borders of despair ; while 
there will be those, too, who wdll strive by their own attempts 
at obedience to come up to .the requirements of the law, 
hoping by a little extra exertion to be able to -meet all its de" 
mands, or trusting that if they fall short dufe allowance will 
be made for human infirmity. N^ot a fevv^ will be found who 
seek to appease the clamors of conscience by a half formed 
resolution to repent and mend their ways at a more conve- 
nient time. But all the while they feel at heart a secret 
enmity to the divine law, which, indeed, is the very reason 
why they do not at once repent. 

Yet, with all this, men are slow to believe that their na- 
ture is so radically depraved as the Scriptures assert, and in 
their hearts they accuse their Maker of undue severity, not 
to say cruelty, in threatening the wicked with the torments 
of hell. Especially is this the case while they remain in 
that state of carnal security in w^hich all, or nearly all, are 
for a season immersed. When they read such passages as 
these : " God saw that the wickedness of man was great 
upon the earth, and that every imagination of his heart w^as 
only evil continually," they think this must have reference 
to an age'^peculiarly wdcked, if it be not rather an exagger- 
ated description even of the antediluvians. 

But, whether the jDicture which the Bible gives us of the 
natural heart be pleasing or not, it is but too faithful a rep- 



80 THE CAPwXAL MIND OPPOSED TO GOD'S LATV^. 

resentation of the actual state of things. That there is any 
thing good yet to be found on earth, is solely owing to the 
eflorts^ of divine grace, which has opposed the evil tenden- 
cies of the depraved heart from the beginnmg. All that 
have been taught of God are ready to confess with the 
prophet, " Except the Lord of hosts had left unto us a very 
small remnant, we should have been as Sodom, and we 
should have been like unto Gomorrah." They are sensible 
that it was not to the commonwealth of Israel in a corrupt 
time, alone, that the sad description given by the same 
l^rophet applies, when he says, " The whole head is sick, 
and the whole heart faint. From the sole of the foot, even 
unto the head, there is no soundness in it, but wounds and 
braises, and putrefying sores." 

The convinced sinner, on looking into his own heart, finds 
that it corresponds but too exactly to this portraiture made 
by an unerring hand. On tracing the evils of his life to 
their source, he finds that they have their origin in a cor- 
rupt nature, which he has brought with him into the world, 
so that with David he is ready to acknowledge: " Behold I 
was shapen in iniquity ; and in sin did my mother conceive 
me." He is now prepared to assent to the scrij^tural state- 
ment, that " by one man sin entered into the world and 
death by sin, and so death passed uj^on all men, in that all 
have sinned." Even as our Saviour charged the Jews of His 
time with the guilt of slaying Zachariah the son of Bara- 
chiah, because they not only belonged to the same nation as 
those who had murdered him, but by their conduct and 
disposition manifested that they were the true children of 
those who had slain the prophets. Thus in Adam the whole 
race was included, and by his sin the blood was tainted, and 
a corrupt ofi'spring produced from a corrupt stock. 

This has been acknowledged by all obedient subjects of 



THE CARNAI. MIND OPPOSED TO GOD'S LAW. 81 

God among men, from the earliest times. Says Job, " Who 
can bring a clean thing out of an unclean ? ISTot one." And 
to the same purpose is the declaration of our text, that " the 
carnal mind is enmity against God," for, as our Lord assures 
us, " that which is born of flesh is flesh." " Adam," we are 
told, " begat a son in his own likeness " and all since born 
of women, one only excepted, the virgin's son, have that 
same "carnal mind," which "is not subject to the law of 
God, neither, indeed, can be." 

And though men have started, and still start so many ob- 
jections against this humiliating doctrine, yet it is confirmed 
by reason, by conscience, by the j^ersonal experience of each 
individual, by history, and the common consent of all times 
and nations, as well as by the w^hole tenor of Scripture. 
For what is there contrary to reason in the principle that 
like begets like ? Is not this inscribed in the prudential 
maxims and proverbs of all nations and times ? " Do men 
gather grapes of thorns or figs of thistles ?" Do you ex- 
pect to find the gentle and timid nature of the lamb in the 
tiger's cubs, though when small they are playful as kittens, 
and as innoxious as lambs ? 

But while the lambs when grown remain harmless, the 
tiger cubs will become fierce and dangerous with age. And 
^when this has come to pass, will we not say that they only 
display now their true nature which they possessed as cubs, 
though not then manifested ? And is there not the same 
reason to ascribe to man a sinful and depraved nature, 
as an inherited principle ; when w^e see it show itself sooner 
or later in every individual, in a higher or lower degree ? 
And does not conscience, too, bear testimony to the fact? 
For where is the individual to be found that has not to 
confess that he has done wrong ? And, if he traces this 
matter up, w^ill he not arrive in the course of his investiga- 



82 THE CARNAL MIND OPPOSED TO GOD'S LAW. 

tioBS at the conclusion,' tbat be has brought a corrupt na^ 
itiire Wjth him into the world, from which bis various trans- 
cgressioris have flowed like streams from a fountain ?. 
.•' Thus", each one's pei'sonal experience, if carefully sifted, 
owill attest the truth, of the Scripture doctrine of the uni- 
•"V^ersal corruption of mankind, and will also corroborate the 
scriptural Recount of the manner in which sin entered into 
tbeworld. j wTbat' man,: as be proceeded from the bands of 
bis Mak^r,^was p^re and untainted with sin, will be ad- 
mitted by all who believe in a holy, wise and gracious God 
as the Author of nature, and therefore, also of man's orig- 
inal nature. And that somehow a sad change has come 
.over this original nature is but too evident. But how bet- 
,ter, or how else,, tp a;ccount for the introduction of sin 
iihaniiv the way taught in the Bible would be diflJcult to 
imagine. - 

i4 .,Kot only the personal experience of each individual, the 
fefetory of' our race,. top, as. recorded in many volumes of 
sacred or profane writ ; as engraven on monuments of 
^ marble and granite, or handed down by medals or other 
devices, all bear wdtness to the fact of man's corruption, 
and the constant tendency of the race, where no counter- 
acting force is applied, to go on from bad to worse. All 
history proves that no sooner has a people acquired wealth 
. and power but it has sunk into effeminacy and vice. 

All the laws of different nations are so many devices to 
check the wickedness of men, so that they might dwell to- 
•gether without destroying each other. 

And no less do the traditions of all nations bear witness 

to the same sad ti'uth of man's fall and corruption. They 

speak of a golden age of innocence, and of the gradual in- 

roadsof vice and crime; which, whatever of fable may be 

'intermingled, proves that a depravation must have taken 



THE CAKNAL MIND OPPOSED TO GOD'S LAW. 83 

place, while a faint remembrance of better times was pre- 
served. But all this put together amounts to -a convincing 
evidence that the case of the human family is just such as 
it is lepreseuted to be in the Bible. And-.aot. only here 
and there in solitary instances does this holy book testify 
of the fall and corruption of - man, but this^ fact runs 
through the whole texture of the word of God. For what 
is the sum and substance of its contents but a revelation 
of the divine plan for the restoration of the human family 
through the gracious interposition of the Son of God ? 

The Bible would lose all its significancy if it could be 
shown that man was not a depraved creature in need of an 
Almighty Saviour. 

"The whole need not a physician, but they that are 
sick," is the dictate of common sense, and is as applicable 
to spiritual disease as to bodily ailments. And were men 
not spiritually diseased even unto death, the coming of the 
Son of Man into the world to seek and save that which w^as 
lost— we say it reverently— would have been the most ab- 
surd and. Quixotic undertaking' that could be imagined. 
And so, we think, it must appear, at bottom, to all who 
do not admit that man's nature is radically, intrinsically, 
and to all human means and appliances, wholly depraved. 

To an innocent and well-disposed race it would only 
have been necessary to make known the will of God, to 
publish His holy laws, in order to secure general, if not ab- 
solutely universal obedience. But such was not the case 
wath man, as the concurrent history of all times and ages, 
without so much as one dissenting voice, goes to show. 
And even those who deny the truth of man's utter corrup- 
tion, will be found to adnut it on innumerable occasions. 
Let the most devoted advocate of human excellence* and 
virtue happen, as is not unlikely to be the case now and 



84 THE CAPvXAL MIXD OPPOSED TO GOD'S LAW. 

then^ to be attacked in his purse, bis honor or otber interests, 
and soon you will bear bim descant on the wickedness of 
mankind in unmeasured terms, sbowing that all bis fine 
speeches upon the innocence of man were only the specu- 
lations of bis brain, not the sincere convictions of bis heart. 

And where will you find the most bumble acknowledg- 
ments of guilt and depravity and ill desert but in the 
mouth of those who have made the greatest proficiency in 
holiness. The more nice and delicate, in short, a man's 
conscience and spiritual sense become, the more hateful 
will his depravity ajDpear in bis sight, and will cause bim to 
loathe himself on account of it, while he gratefully acknowl- 
edges the deliverance be has experienced through faith in 
a Redeemer. And to the latest breath he will join in the 
confession of the apostle : "• In me, that is, in my flesh, 
dwelleth no good thing." 

But how are we to account for that all but universal self- 
deception in regard to their native depravity which men 
practice upon themselves. It is but the natural and almost 
the necessary eflect of that very depravity. For had any 
one never known a day of health, nor seen such in others, 
be would very likely consider this the natural and original 
condition of the race. But more than that, vanity and self- 
esteem are the direct and never failing result of that selfish- 
ness which is the very essence of our dei^ravity. This leads 
every one naturally to think the best he can of himself and 
his moral condition. We need not stop to prove this posi- 
tion, as every one's own experience, both of himself and his 
neighbors, will sufiiciently convince him of its truth. 

Against this radical disease of the mind, therefore, we 
find the whole divine plan for the recovery of man to be di- 
rected. Till the sinner is truly humble, and ready to con- 
fess himself not only guilty of many particular sins, but es- 



THE CARNAL MIND OPPOSED TO GOD'S LAW. 85 

sentially corrupt in all his faculties and principles, there is 
no hope of his being brought to a sincere repentance and a 
thorough submission to the will and government of God. 
A man may plead guilty to a thousand charges and feel a 
measure of compunction in consequence, but so long as he is 
not convinced that he is radically corrupt, he will not fail to 
make efforts in various ways to better himself. It is not in 
nature that he should do otherwise. The occupant of the 
castle of the human heart, when attacked by the artillery 
of heaven, will never surrender while he has any ammu- 
nition or provision remaining. It is always a death struggle 
between nature and grace, and when once fairly closed by 
an unconditional submission, is not likely to be tried again 
in the same desperate way. But many partially give in and 
are at best but half converted, and with respect to such, it 
is not to be wondered at if after some time, when theu' ex- 
cited feelings have had time to cool, they are found again in 
open or secret rebellion against the Lord. 

But to return, — the main assault made upon the human 
heart by divine grace is directed against its pride ; this be- 
ing the principal tower of strength. But while pride re- 
mains unsubdued, it is not to be hoped that a man will 
allow such humiliating views of his nature to dwell in his 
mind, but will reject every argument that Avould go to es- 
tablish so painful a truth, as an insult. Hence we need not 
be surprised that so few are truly sensible of the utter de- 
pravity of their nature, nay, that whole denominations of so- 
called Christians have denied the same. 

Tet, if it is indeed a fact, and such it is if reason and con- 
science do not deceive ; if experience and history and the 
uniform conviction of all times and ages are to be relied on ; 
if effects imply adequate causes, and if the Bible is the word 
of God ; if it is an incontrovertible fact that the human race 



86 THE CARNAL MIND OPPOSED TO GOD S LAW. 

is totally depraved — we do not say that men are as bad as 
they might be ; but so depraved as to be utterly incapable 
of themselves, to reform and recover their original recti- 
tude — then it is certainly the part of wisdom to seek to 
know exactly how we stand. The merchant that would re- 
fuse to examine his books for fear they should show him to 
be insolvent, would certainly not be accounted wise. The 
sailor that would delay to search for the leak wbich his ship 
had sprung, because it was not an agreeable thought that 
he might soon sink — would be thought to be mad. And is 
it not equal madness to refuse to attend to the evidence of 
our native' depravity because it is not pleasant to discover 
how utterly impotent we are as to all spiritual good till di- 
vine grace renews our heart ? Is it wise in a man seized 
with a mortal disease to try to make himself believe that 
nothing ails him ? 

But you may be ready to ask, if it is so difficult to con- 
vince men of their total depravity, and yet without this 
conviction no true conversion can be expected, how is any 
one to be saved ? To such a question the most suitable an- 
swer in a few words w^ould be in the language uttered by 
our Saviour in reply to a similar question ; " With men this 
is impossible, but with God all things are possible." The 
wisdom and riches of divine grace are in nothing, perhaps, 
so conspicuous, as in the various means which God employs 
to bring man back to Himself. 

The main instrumentality is the word, whether preached 
or presented in books. But the word can not take effect 
unless the heart is properly prepared for its reception, as 
the sacred historian says of the preaching of Paul and Bar- 
nabas at Antioch of Pisidia, that " as many as were or- 
dained," ^. 6., rightly disposed, '' to eternal life believed." 
The Saviour has taught the same in the parable of the 



THE CARNAL MIND OPrOSED TO GOB'S LAW. 87 

sower and the seed, showing that according to the various 
dispositions of men the good seed of the word would or 
would not produce fruit. "But that on the good ground," 
we are tbld,, "are they wliich in an honest and good heart, 
having hear4 the' Word keep it and bring forth fruit with 
patience." ; . 

Again^ He says to Nicodemus, "This is the condemnation 
that hght is come into the world, and men loved darkness 
rather than light, because their deeds were evil ;" adding, 
"for everyone that doeth evil hateth the light, neither 
Cometh to the light lest his deeds should be reproved, but 
he that doeth truth cometh to the light that his deeds may 
be made manifest that they are wrought in God." From 
this and other passages we learn, that even before men are 
made acquainted with divine truth, they are on probation, 
in smaller matters, and according to the degree of fidelity 
manifested in these will be the reception of the higher doc- 
trines of the gospel when presented for their acceptance. 
This seems to be implied, or rather directly taught in those 
words of our Saviour, which you will find in the sixteenth 
chapter of Luke : " And I say unto you, make to yourselves 
friends with the mammon of unrighteousness, that when ye 
fail they may receive you into everlasting habitations ;" add- 
ing this solemn warning. " He that is faithful in that which 
is least, is faithful also in much; and he that is unjust in the 
least, is unjust also in much. If, therefore, ye have not 
been faithful in the unrighteous mammon, who will com- 
mit to your trust the true riches ?" This teaches us plainly 
til at unless a man is faithful and conscientious in his earthly 
relations, and temporal possessions, he is not prepared to 
act faithfully in regard to spiritual matters. 

Here it may be well to put in a word of caution. A man 
namely, may seem, to all human appearance, to be v«ry con- 



88 THE CARNAL MIND OPPOSED TO GOD'S LAW. 

scientious in the discharge of relative duties, and in his deal- 
ings with others ; kind and affectionate in his family ; hon- 
est and upright in his money transactions ; a man of truth. 
Now such a man is certainly a more likely subject of con- 
version than one of the opposite character. But yet we see 
many such who do not regard religion, nay, who are violent 
opposers to it. But then it is to be considered that it is 
not simply the act, but the motive from which it is per- 
formed to which we must look in order to form a correct 
judgment. A man may be all that we said and more still, 
from motives of pride and vanity, or natural kindliness of 
temper, (a thing not to be despised.) without the most dis- 
tant intention, in any of these, to please God, and do it from 
obedience to His will. Hence, he will be no nearer to the 
kingdom of God, if so near as some whose reputation with 
the world is any thing but good ; as the Saviour said to the 
self-righteous Pharisees that the publicans and harlots would 
enter into the kingdom of heaven before them. 

But even the hardest cases are not out of the reach of 
divine mercy, as constant experience, confirmed by the posi- 
tive declarations of the word of God, may show. We mean 
of sueh as have not yet enjoyed the full instructions of the 
gospel; or though they have outwardly heard the word, 
are in the condition of the contemporaries of our Lord ; to 
whom He applies the prophetic declaration that they had 
eyes but did not see, ears but did not hear, and had hearts 
but they were so hardened that they could not feel. In 
these cases, God, in His infinite wisdom and compassion 
for wretched fallen man, employs various means to restore 
feeling to the heart, and the power of using their mental 
and moral powers aright. 

He sends them a season of prosperity, that they may be 
led by a feeling of gratitude to seek the Lord. Or if that 



THE CAIINAL MIND OPrOSED TO GOD'S LAW. 89 

proves unavailing, He visits them with afflictions, loss of 
children, friends and relatives, or of proi3erty. All this you 
may find beautifully described in the one hundred and sev- 
enth Psalm, to which I would refer you, adding the words 
which Elihu addressed to Job, when he had dwelt on this 
principle of the divine government : " Lo all these things 
worketh God oftentimes with man." The various leadings 
of Providence, cteliverance in time of danger, unexpected 
success or calamity ; sickness and restoration to health ; all 
are intended for our good, to lead us to reflect, and to cause 
us to turn unto the Lord. 

Who is there that has not, at some time in his life, felt the 
hand of God upon him, that has not had a lively impression 
of his dependance and accountability ? But, alas, in too 
many instances, men, when thus partially awaked, only turn, 
so to speak, to the other side, and settle down to sleep again. 

Another means employed by the God of all grace is the 
preached word, with all the ordinances of His house and 
worship. He has commissioned His servants to call men to 
repentance, and to warn them of the consequences of con- 
tinuing in their rebellion and unbelief. And often, no doubt, 
an arrow of conviction has found its way to the heart even 
of the most obdurate. When the claims of God were 
pressed upon his attention, the Spirit has brought home the 
truth with power to his mind. Like Felix he has trembled 
under the exhibition of man's duty and responsibility. He 
has been almost persuaded, but he has suffered the world to 
recover its ascendency in his heart, and is now further off 
from the kingdom than he was before. 

If, then, a man would not run into destruction with his 
eyes open, it becomes him to think upon his ways. He 
must listen to the softest whispers of conscience, and take 
care that he does not resist the gentle influences of the 



90 THE CARNAL MIND OPPOSED TO GOD'S LAW. 

Holy Spirit. For God has promised that His spirit shall 
accompany the faithful preaching of His word. And often 
and long does the Spirit stand without knocking for en- 
trance at the door of the heart. Usually, He calls for a 
season, and if His gracious call be not heeded, retires for a 
time and then again renews His call, 

But, if too long and too often resisted. He will finally* 
take His flight, and leave the wretched •subject to final 
hardness and spiritual blindness. It is a solemn thought 
how many there are who have for a longer or shorter time 
experienced the sacred drawings of the Holy Spirit, but 
who have never in earnest yielded themselves to His influ- 
ences, and who have thus been fitted for an aggravated 
doom in the world to come. For you may be sure that 
God is not mocked, and will not sufler His grace to be neg- 
lected without inflicting double punishment upon all such 
despisers of His grace. " It is a fearful thing to fall into 
the hands of the living God ! " " Ephraim is joined to his 
idols, let him alone," is perhaps the most dreadful sen- 
tence that can be passed upon a man this side of eternity. 
It is a token that God has at length given him up as past 
recovery. It is like the tears that the Saviour shed over 
Jerusalem, when about to resign it to its fate, w^ith these 
solemn words, " O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, thou that killest 
the prophets, and stonest them that are sent unto thee, how 
often would I have gathered thy children, as a hen gath- 
ereth her chickens under her wings, but ye w^ould not. 
Behold, your house is left unto you desolate." 

If any of you, therefore, my unconverted hearers, feel 
yet some compunctions of soul, if you have any misgiv- 
ings as to the safety of your state, let me beseech you not 
to neglect these gentle drawings of the Holy Spirit. 
Attend to them. Follow them up. They may yet issue in 



THE CAENAL MIND OPPOSED TO GOD'S LAW. 91 

your conversion and final salvation. They are a token of 
the compassion of that God, wh«se " will it is not that any 
should perish, but that all should come to repentance and 
the knowledge of the truth." 

But beware how you slight this gentle voice of the Good 
Shepherd, as He is seeking His lost sheej). Be resolute. 
Set out in earnest to seek salvation. Let nothing induce 
you to turn back, or to put off to another day the necessary 
work of repentance and conversion, which ought long ago 
to have been attended to. And, above all things, do not 
trust to the chance of a death-bed repentance. 

If you deliberately put off your conversion, now that you 
are convinced of its necessity ; if you say to the Spirit : 
" Go thy way for this time, when I have a convenient sea- 
son" I will attend to thy warnings; then you have reason 
to fear that now you have heard His gentle call for the last 
time ; that the next time that God speaks to you it will be 
in these words of terror: "Because I called and you re- 
fused, I also will laugh at your calamity, I will mock when 
your fear cometh, when your fear cometh as desolation, and 
your destruction cometh as a whirlwind ; when distress and 
anguish cometh upon you. Then they shall call upon me, 
but I will not answer ; they shall seek me early, but they 
shall not find me ; for that they hated knowledge and did 
not choose the fear of the Lord ; but whoso hearkeneth unto 
me shall dwell safely, and shall be quiet from fear of evil." 

What do you wait for ? Though your hearts are totally 
depraved, so that you have no power of your own to turn, 
yet at the word of your Saviour you can turn. Tou have 
read of the man with the withered hand, of which he had 
lost all use. But when the Lord bid him " stretch forth 
thy hand," he at once obeyed without demur or hesita- 
tion, and immediately it was restored whole as the other. 



92 THE CARNAL MIND OPPOSED TO GOD'S LAW. 

When you feel the gracious breathings of the Holy 
Spirit, then is your golden opportunity. Be persuaded 
then to embrace it at once. Flee to the Saviour, who alone 
can help you, and wlio is abundantly able, as well as willing 
to help and to save all that come unto Him. 

Plead His promises. Plead His kindness to those that 
approached him when on earth. For " Jesus Christ is the 
same, yesterday, to-day, and forever." He has just the 
same compassionate heart for human w^oe that caused Him 
to go about healing all manner of disease and infirmity 
among the people. He has just the same love yet, which 
urged Him to offer Himself as the sacrifice for human guilt, 
and to suffer himself to be nailed to the accursed tree of 
the cross, and there with His expiring breath to pray : 
'' Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do." 
Cannot you love such a Saviour ? 



SERMON VI. 

KO MAN WILL BE FINALLY CONDEMNED FOR ORIGINAL SIN. 

" The word of the Lord came again unto me, saying, What mean ye that 
ye use this proverb concerning the land of Israel, saying, The fathers 
have eaten sour grapes and the children's teeth are set on edge. As I 
live, saith the Lord G-od, ye shall not have occasion any more to use this 
proverb in Israel. Behold, aU souls are mine; as the soul of the father, 
so the soul of the son is mine ; the soul that sinneth, it shall die." — 
EzEKCEL xviii., 1-4. 

Under the lashes of a reproaching conscience, or the in- 
flictions of divine displeasure, men have ever been ready to 
accuse their Maker of injustice and cruelty, in permitting - 
them to fall into a sinful condition and then punishing them 
for it. This was the case of the Israelites in the time of 
the prophet Ezekiel, when they were sent into captivity for 
their transgressions. Not yet being humbled under the rod, 
they did not hesitate to employ the language for which they 
are reproved in our text, saying, " The fathers have eaten 
sour grapes and the children's teeth are set on edge ;" or, 
in other words, that they had to suffer for the sins of their 
ancestors. 

Such is still the tendency of the human mind. That we 
should have to suffer for the sin of Adam, when he ate of 
the forbidden fruit, seems to many a very great hardshijD, 
while others are not afraid to charge their Maker with their 
sins, insinuating that it would be both cruel and unjust to 
punish them for the same. And it must be confessed that 



94 :SO JLA^ WILL FS FIVAIXY 

the iesujungs of Tarions ProtegJUnl/ ereeds and wiiliiigB have 
l&kt isuppoit to jgaek Tiews of the dealings of God. A ede- 
brsted ccimm^itator of onr coantiy has not hesitated to ex- 
press himself in language like the following: "liVc zii^i: 
as wen object, to this fised eoonomjof things " — if iil 
ssdd, bj W3Ly of elacidalion^ that die plan and : :: : : 5 e : : 1. 
parent may determine almost OTeiy thing abo" : : .; r I r s : 1 7 
of a child. T_T pniposeto TemoTefirom regiis ;: : t^::- 
l^ice an d n ?. may secore his health ; the _ _ t : 1 
oae clime ier may determine the lib^r^ r • 

joy, the n : lis inteffig^ice, the piofe 5 „ _ _ / 

choose, a: _ : . 7 lis doom, here and heresdfler. After 

©oMigini: :. .. :'.t-, :. t ::>m€S to drawthe :::.:-: ~z:~ "e 

were"g©i-_ :: _::-. '■^"'- ir^^glit aswell,'*i:T ^;;-^. " :;:- 
ject to tL:.^ zz~:. -:\i :iy : : :Li_g^'asto that - li ;L ; rz: zis 
that God d-^"::Ti^T^ :lz '..i-.:.^^ :: : r iemptior ;:;:.'::_ : : 
Hisg::: -ir--,:- I:' -:"::-;- ::;•.:"- ; - ' :^^.'^ "v- 
one, ^~"'-:-: :L l'^- ~::-..-'. ' :.;/- ;,,:.::^,:- ^'t '•/ "'-':^- ■ : :t 
B^ z ■ -T,:,i_ -i: ..„ :_, ::-------:- :> 

Torsr VTc ask what piinciple of jnstiee „ :- is 

v: . - T : _ ; ::i :5 p^oit^ice and £dtt . ; : i^iaal 

: _. : " T \ ^ ? :f he gives him he - :: : t'^-er 

^^ with cmphaf e 

n::- ::";::::: 7 :i .i^-g the Chiistiai^ 1. :; r : : I ;:.: :i 
c: Id;::- :; ' ' :: :\:^T:i :- ::: r : ring .great u^ti:^ : : 2^7-~::i 
c: _:;:: "v.:-. :^ L^^^^'ij^': And we: p::: :" :: ".„t -: :r: 
:d _d:5 : : 56 who are sofimd of repr : ^ 1- d: > 
trine that God bestows spedal grace on one and not on 
another as unjust^ tyrannical and malignant, whether they 
are not lifting thm* Toice against the manifest analogy of 
natore, and all the &cts in die moral and material world ?^ 
AH this coarse of aigomentation is manifestly fennded on 
the dodiine, tanght by some, that wh«i God soffered aU 



CONDEMNED FOR ORIGINAL SIN. 95 

mankind to fall into a state of depravity, throucrh tlie one sin 
of our progenitor, from which it was utterly impossible for 
any one to extricate himself by his own efforts, God chose 
some to salvation and left the others to perish in their 
blood. Xow such a doctrine we reject, and contend that 
the Scripture teaches very differently. It teaches, indeed, 
that man is fallen past recovery through his own powers, 
but it teaches also that God in mercy has provided a Sa- 
viour, who is able and willing to save all that come to Him. 

And we have adverted to the opposite doctrine only to 
prove our assertion that even good men in their zeal for 
their speculative views have not hesitated to furnish argu- 
ments to the unregenerate to accuse their Maker with un- 
kindness, just as those Israelites when they complained that 
they had to suffer for the sins of their forefathers. This 
charge the Lord positively disavows, showing through the 
whole chapter that His conduct is perfectly impartial — 
that none shall finally die for another's sin, but only for his 
own. 

Our own Augsburg Confession does not run entirely 
clear of the same difficulty when it is said, in the second 
article, which treats of original sin, that " since the fall of 
Adam all men who are naturally engendered are conceived 
and born in sin ; that is, that they all are, from their mother's 
womb, full of evil desires and propensities, and can have by 
nature no true fear of God, no true faith in God," so far good, 
but then comes '' and that this innate disease or original sin is 
truly sin, which brings all those under the eternal wrath of 
God, who are not born again by baptism and the Holy 
Spirit." Xow this assertion, and the whole article in its 
spirit and its practical bearing, is intended to teach that all 
men are by nature children of wrath, and need to be re- 
generated in order to share in the blessings purchased by 



96 NO MAN WILL BE FINALLY 

Christ. But urged to the letter it would imply that a man 
was liable to eternal punishment for original sin, that is, for 
bringing a depraved nature with him into the world; as 
well as that infants dying without having received baptism, 
must be lost ; both which are doctrines not taught in the 
Bible. 

But you will ask, did not the Israelites, after all, suffer 
for the sins of their progenitors ? And do not all mankind 
suffer for the sin of Adam ? Both these points must be 
granted, and yet the reproach which the Lord makes to 
Israel by the prophet, and in which we must also share if 
we act upon the same principles, was perfectly just. In 
regard to Israel we will say but this, that though they suf- 
fered in some sort for their fathers' sins, it was only because 
they had rendered themselves jmrtakers in those sins, and 
had deserved the punishment for themselves, and besides 
this was only a temporal punishment, which was intended 
for their correction, and in many instances, no doubt, had 
the desired effect, and thus proved in reality a blessing. 
But they that used that profane proverb looked upon it as 
a real punishment and one that they had not deserved. 

Now, in justifying His ways — as the Lord condescends to 
do — He teaches us that what is really meant for punish- 
ment, (here and elsewhere termed death,) is not inflicted 
except for a man's actual and personal sins. " The soul that 
sinneth it shall die." And this is founded on a wide and 
fundamental principle in the divine government, viz. : " All 
souls are mine, saith the Lord, as the soul of the father, so 
the soul of the son is mine." This means that each is con- 
sidered as an individual, and as such belongs to God, who 
will treat him according to his personal character. 

This will, therefore, constitute the main theme of our dis- 
course to day, viz. : 



condemned for original sin. 97 

That no man will be finally condemned for origi- 
nal SIN. 

May the Lord guide my thoughts, and prepare you for 
a profitable hearing, we ask it for Jesus' sake. 

We have chosen this subject in connection with that we 
last treated, because we are aware that men are very prone, 
as ah-eady remarked, to raise such an objection to the doc- 
trines of grace, or even to charge God with injustice, and 
that while such thoughts occupy their minds there is small 
hope of their being converted. We begin by stating more 
distinctly, (what was implied in our preceding observations), 
that man must be considered in a two-fold point of view, as 
a member of the human family, and as a person, an individ- 
ual, accountable for his own acts. 

N^ow, it seems to have been a necessary part of the plan 
of redemption, that mankind should form an organic whole 
which was at one time contained in Adam, and represented 
by him. Else, we do not see how we could have been re- 
deemed as a race ; that is, how Christ, as the second rep- 
resentative of the human family, could have by one offering 
perfected our redemption, and thus placed us a second time 
in a savable condition, on different principles, in some im- 
portant respects, from those by which Adam w^as to stand 
or fall. 

For he was created pure and innocent, and capable of 
maintaining himself by his own strength, but liable for the 
very first transgression to die, and be for ever lost— we, on 
the other hand, come into the world with a depraved na- 
ture, inclined to evil, and sure to sin a thousand times, but 
we are so fiir from being cut off for tlie first sin, that we 
may repent and be restored to holiness and happiness in the 
enjoyment of the divine favor, after ten thousand times ten 
thousand sins, if vv^e are truly sorry, and sincerely seek to 

5 



98 KO MAJS" WILL BE FINALLY 

be reconciled unto God. But this is not in virtue of any 
good, seen or foreseen in us, but through the infinite value 
of the sacrifice which Christ has ofifered for sin, and which 
avails for every one that does not willfully reject it. 

But this very thing, that all mankind were included in 
Adam, brought with it, as a necessary consequence, that all 
men should participate in the effects of his fall. It is a 
uniform law of nature, that like begets like. And on this 
ground is the universal depravity of the human family 
placed in Scripture. " Who can bring a clean thing out of 
an unclean," asks Job, and answers : " None." And to find 
fault with this arrangement were to tax our Maker with 
folly. But though, in one respect, w^e are each one part 
and parcel of the human family, and as such liable to all 
the evils connected with our present degraded state, we are 
at the same time accountable individuals, and as such we 
shall be tried and treated at the last day. 

Yet for the present we can not extricate ourselves, if we 
were so disposed, from our intimate connection with the 
race, and with its natural head, the first man. Neither can 
we absolutely and entirely separate ourselves from the sec- 
ond head and representative of the human family. We 
have, all and each of us, been redeemed by His precious 
blood, we are no longer our own, having been bought with 
a price, and such a price ! 

But, as this has respect to our personal and eternal salva- 
tion, it requires that we should give our personal and vol- 
untary consent to the covenant in order to enjoy the full 
and final benefit of the same. And we read of such as tread 
under foot the Son of God, counting the blood of the cov- 
venant, lohereioith theyicere sanctified^ an unholy thing, and 
doing despite to the Spirit of Grace, and of such as " deny 
the Lord that bought them." But till a man has thus vol- 



C02sDEMXED FOPw OEIGLN'AL SIX. 99 

untarily and consciously rejected the ofiers of mercy, he is 
on the whole in a much more desirable situation than if he 
had come from the hands of his Maker fresh and pure, as 
Adam did, but liable, for the very first transgression, to be 
ruined for ever. For their being born with a depraved na- 
ture does not increase men's guilt in the sight of God, 
rather, we might say, it was the ground, in one j^oint of 
view, that the long-suffering of God could be exercised 
toward them. 

If the Saviour pleaded inbehalf of His crucifiers, "Father 
forgive them, for they know not what they do," though 
theirs was a willful act of the most heinous atrocity, may 
we not justly infer that the fact of men's natural depravity, 
so far from being an aggravation of their sin, as has some- 
times been ignorantly asserted, is the very reason that they 
may be saved, notwithstanding theii' sinfulness. Xo one 
certainly will suppose that the assertion of the wicked ser- 
vant was true, that his lord wanted to reap where he had 
not sown, and to gather where he Lad not strewed. It is 
required of a man according to that he hath, and not ac- 
cording to what he hath not. 

Why do we consider infants safe who have never com- 
mitted actual sin, when they have all the natural depravity 
that has, in the case of an adult, issued, perhaps, in murder, 
or adultery, or any other heinous crime. That in their nat- 
ural condition they can not be an object of divine compla- 
cency, until they have been cleansecl and renovated, is ob- 
vious. And though we do not know the way of the Spirit in 
this matter, we may cheerfully leave them in the hands of 
God, who hateth nothing that He has made, and of that 
Saviour who said : " Suffer the little children to come unto me 
and forbid them not, for of such is the kingdom of God." 

As we are sure that God does not require angelic per- 



100 NO MAN WILL BE FINALLY 

fection of the children of men, even of such as have been 
renewed, and '' have tasted the good word of God," and 
have experienced '^ the powers of the world to come," so 
neither does he require of such as have never heard the 
gosj)el what He asks, and justly asks, of such as have en- 
joyed the means of grace. Hence, the Saviour assures us 
that " the servant that knew his Lord's will and did not 
prepare himself to do the same, shall be beaten with many 
stripes ; " while " he that knew not," in the same definite 
degree, " and did commit things worthy of stripes, shall be 
beaten with few stripes." And this is perfectly consonant 
to our natural reason and conscience, and the common 
sense of mankind, to which our Lord appeals on more than 
one occasion, as when He says, " to whom men have com- 
mitted much, of him they will ask the more ; " and it is to 
be regretted that men, leaving the plain, common-sense in- 
terpretation of Scripture and its teachings, have lost them- 
selves in a labyrinth of sjDeculation, and in support of a 
theory belonging to their metaphysical system, have ven- 
tured to contradict or explain away the most plain and 
positive assertions of Holy Writ. But let our motto, my 
friends, ever be : " Let God be true and every man a liar." 

We resume our subject. We consider it settled on scrip- 
tural principles, that man's depravity, which we, each one, 
bring with us into the world, and which we inherit with- 
out any doing of our own — however painful and injurious 
it is — will not, and cannot be ascribed to us as a fault, as sin, 
(in the strict and proper sense,) as guilt. 

But, you say again : Have not the best of men often 
charged themselves with their original sin as being really 
guilt? And are not those most ready to do so who have 
made the greatest advances in holiness? We admit all 
this, and yet we do not consider this as proving the point. 



CONDEMNED FOR ORIGINAL SIN. 101 

For, in the first place, it is questionable whether in such 
confessions, pious men have not included under the name 
of original sin those evil desires which arise in the heart, 
from which actual sin springs, for "when lust hath con- 
ceived it bringeth forth sin, and sin, when it is finished, 
bringeth forth death " — and if they have really meant their 
inherited depravity, as such, in their confessions of original 
sin — it has been because they were conscious of having as- 
sented to it by the voluntary motion of their minds. 

That a man may lament, sincerely and most deeply, that 
he has a corrupt nature, and abhor himself on account of it, 
is readily granted. But to say he feels guilt for anything 
to which he had not been personally accessory is just prac- 
ticing a deception upon himself, to which many may have 
been the more readily inclined, because such has been the 
accepted doctrine in the Christian church ever since the 
days of Augustine, though not without much opposition. 

In meditating upon Adam's sin, we may very properly 
feel that we should have done no better in his place than 
he did ; that if, as some have dreamt, our -souls had existed 
before Adam was formed, and we had been asked whether 
we were willing to trust our interests into his hands, when he 
was yet in the state of innocence, to be tested by so easy 
a trial as that of abstainino: from the use of one sino-le tree, 
where all the rest, and that in the most liberal and over- 
flowing abundance, was free, we should not have hesitated 
to leave it to his virtue, and should have been willing to share 
the consequences with him ; and thus have no reason to 
find fault that God made that arrangement for us prospec- 
tively, when we were not yet* in existence, which we should 
have been glad to make for ourselves had we consciously 
existed at the time. 

But we need not dwell upon this, for, let the consequences 



102 NO MAN WILL BE FINALLY 

of Adam's failure be as dreadful as can be imagined, we 
are assured by God that the merits of the second Adam 
immeasurably outweigh the demerits of the first. So that 
if by the transgression of the one we lost an earthly Para- 
dise, and a freedom from death and pain by the obedience 
of the other, there has been purchased for us a heavenly 
Paradise, and an eternity of bliss and glory reserved in 
Heaven for all Christ's people, and only to be forfeited by 
our own willful rejection of offered mercy. Thus the apos- 
tle writes in the 5th of Romans : " But not as the offense, 
so also is the free gift. For if through the offense of one, 
many," the whole race, " be dead, much inore the grace of 
God and the gift by grace, which is by one man, Jesus 
Christ, hath abounded unto many," and as if this were not 
plain enough, he goes on to say, "therefore, as by the of- 
fense of one, judgment came upon all men to condemna- 
tion, even so by the righteousness of one, the free gift came 
upon all men unto justification of life." God, who had 
been willing that the obedience of Adam, if he had proved 
faithful, should be accepted in behalf of the whole race — 
when he had failed and dragged down ruin upon himself 
and his posterity, God, of His free, unmerited grace, 
provided another and better proxy for us in the person of 
His own Eternal and only Beloved Son. 

Thus the arch-enemy by whose instigation our first pa- 
rents sinned, was foiled of his prey and the loss which man 
had suffered was turned into gain. Instead of original 
righteousness, we may now have the righteousness of Christ, 
which is imputed to all that believe. His blood is of vir- 
tue to wash away the foulest stains of sin, personal or orig- 
inal. A divine power attends the preaching of salvation in 
Christ unto all that give heed to it and are willing to be 
saved by grace. 



CONDEMNED FOR ORIGINAL SIN. 103 

While, therefore, to use the apostle's language, " God 
hath concluded all under sin," has let all men without ex- 
ception fall into a state of sin and condemnation, it was 
" that He might have mercy upon all." He suffered all to 
come into the same condition of ruin that the same grace 
might be offered to all, and that whosoever believes in the 
gracious purpose of God formed from eternity, should not 
perish, bat have eternal life as the free gift of divine grace 
and mercy through Christ Jesus our Lord. 

Wherefore take heed, brethren, that you count not your- 
selves unworthy of eternal life by putting from you the 
offered mercy of God. " See that ye refuse not Him that 
speaketh ; for if they escaped not who refused Him that 
spake on earth, much more shall not we escape, if we turn 
away from Him that speaketh from Heaven." 

It is not for your breach of the divine law, innumerable 
and aggravated as your transgressions have been, nor for 
your having inherited a fallen and depraved nature, which 
has rendered you incapable of yielding a satisfactory obedi- 
ence to that law which is " holy, just and good" — but alone 
for refusing to turn at the command of your Maker and 
Judge when He pleads with you as He did with Israel of 
old, " Why will ye die, O house of Israel ? Repent and 
turn from all your transgressions, so iniquity shall not be 
your ruin. For I have no pleasure in the death of him that 
dieth, saith the Lord God, wherefore turn yourselves and 
live ye." 

Perhaps you will say, but if we are dead in trespasses and 
sins how can we turn ? Well then hear what the Saviour 
says, " The hour is coming and now is when the dead shall 
hear the voice of the Son of God, and they that hear shall 
live." If then you now hear His gentle call. Oh ! be en- 
treated to give heed to it, lest you be given over to final 



104 NO MAN WILL BE FINALLY 

hardness and judicial blindness, as was the ease with Israel 
in our Saviour's day, and has been the case with thousands 
and millions since, who heard the gospel call, who were al- 
most pei^uaded to become Christians, but who listened to 
the tempter, who went back to their former evil courses 
and were lost. 

If any additional proof were wanting that none shall per 
ish for original sin, that is, for having inherited a corrupt 
nature from Adam, it would be found in the truth so clearly 
stated that "as in Adam all die, so in Christ shall all be 
made alive." At the general resurrection at the last day, 
both the righteous and the wicked shall be called up from 
their graves to receive their final doom. And thus being 
restored by the power of the Son of God, the wicked who 
refused to be saved in the way of God's devising, will not 
have the least shadow of a complaint to raise against the 
justice of God, for even their bodies, consigned to the tomb 
on account of sin, will be restored to them. But alas ! no 
comfort will they derive from this ; for it will only be to 
suffer for their own sins, willfully committed, against grace 
and warning and all the obstacles which God in His mercy 
had placed in their way to keep them out of hell. 

How will they then gnash their teeth for anguish, and 
gnaw^ their tongues in despair, when they see vfhat they 
have forfeited by their obstinate refusal to be saved, and 
how they have been fooled by Satan when they would ra- 
ther hearken to his wiles, than to listen to the kind admoni- 
tions of their Saviour, who sought to deliver them from their 
ruined state, and who followed them with so much patience 
and long suffering from year to year, but all in vain. 

But the righteous will then realize how, by the infinite 
wisdom of God, the loss which they suffered in Adam has 
been turned into a never-failing source of happiness and joy. 



CONDEMNED FOR ORIGINAL SIN. 105 

while they ascribe all their salvation from first to last, from 
the foundation to the top stone, to the grace of their kind 
Redeemer and Saviour, saying, "Blessing and honor and 
glory and power be unto Him that sitteth upon the throne, 
and to the Lamb for ever." 

Then will it be seen that when God suffered Adam to 
fall, it was that a greater than Adam might interfere in our 
behalf. And when He so ordered the constitution of the 
human race that they should all descend from one father — 
for Eve herself was taken from Adam — it was that all might 
share in one common salvation, from the benefit of which 
none are excluded except by their willful and perverse 
choice. We know not, indeed, how it is possible for the 
heathen, who have never heard the word, to be made 
sharers in the blessing, but that they can be saved, if they 
obey the light they have, seems to be pretty clearly con- 
tained in Scripture. But we may make ourselves easy on 
that score. They are in the hands of a wise and gracious 
God, who will not require more of them than according to 
what they have received. 

Let us rather turn our thoughts upon ourselves, for let 
the case of the heathen be as it may, this we are sure of, 
that if any of us should perish under the sound of the gos- 
pel, and in the enjoyment of the means of grace, our state 
in the future world will be past expression sad and awful. 
Just so great and intense as was the love of God in sending 
His Son into the world to save sinners, and giving Him up 
to the anguish and ignominy of the cruel death of the cross, 
so fierce will be the fire of His indignation against all de- 
spisers of His grace, and rejecters of His Son. He has the 
promise that all His enemies shall be made His footstool. 
He shall rule them with a rod of iron. He shall break them 
in pieces like a potter's vessel 



106 ■ xo :?j:ax ttill be finally 

Various profitable reflections and inferences may be de- 
rived from the subject we have considered. Firsts We learn 
from it the necessity of an atonement. Man by nature lies 
under a sentence of condemnation. Conscience confirms 
the declaration of the written word, that '* the soul that 
sinneth shall die." And how to escape that death, the sen- 
tence pronounced by a God of infinite justice and holiness, 
upon the violators of His law, no human skill or wisdom 
could discover. 

For when a man's eyes have been opened to see the force, 
extent, and spirituality of the law of God, and to discover 
his own innumerable transgressions, if, as he naturally will, 
he seeks now to do better, so long as he does this in his own 
strength, he continually finds that in the long run sin is too 
strong for him. He may abstain from the outward act. 
But only the more violently does desire rage in his bosom 
for this restraint, till at last he gives up the struggle in de- 
spair. Then conscience again upbraids ; remorse takes pos- 
session of his bosom. He tries again, and again he is foiled. 

If, now, the gospel is presented to his muid, the method 
in which God will save sinners, hojDe is revived ; joy fills his 
soul. Yet it is only as the doctrine of the atoning death of 
the Lamb of God is brought before his view that he can 
obtain solid comfort. For reason and conscience combine 
in assuring him that till an adequate atonement is made to 
the broken law there can be no forgiveness. This is so 
self-evident a priuciple, that we boldly assert that no man 
feelincr himself to be a sinner in the si2:ht of God, could ever 
approach His throne with confidence, till he was enabled to 
see God in Christ, reconciling the world unto Himself, not 
imputino' their trespasses unto them, making '' Ilim to be sin 
for us, who knew no sin, that we might be made the right- 
eousnessof God in Him." Bat when this doctrine of Christ's 



coxde:^xed for original six. 107 

vicarious and atoning death is clearly apprehended, all 
doubts vanish, all fear is gone. With the apostle we reason, 
'' lie that spared not His own Son, but gave him up for us 
all, how shall He not with Him also freely give us all things ?" 
Though sin has accumulated like mountains, here is a power 
able to remove mountains ; and all it needs is faith ; the firm 
persuasion that God is true, that He means what He says, 
and that when He gave up His own Son to suffer for human 
sin, the ransom was complete and sufficient. 

But from the doctrine of original sin, as taught in the 
Bible, we learn also the need of regeneration, that in order 
that we should be pleasing in the sight of a God of infinite 
purity, and fitted to dwell in His presence, our natures, de- 
praved and defiled by sin, must be renewed, which is the 
work of the Holy Spirit. Therefore, our Lord said to Xico- 
demus, when instructing him in the fundamental principles 
of religion, "Marvel not that I said unto thee, ye must be 
born again. That which is born of the flesh is flesh ; that 
which is born of the Spirit is spiiit." 

As by the fall of man the lower principles of his nature 
have gained an undue ascendency over the higher, and hence 
he is called carnal, being governed by sensual appetite, un- 
der the dominion of pride and selfishness, there must be a 
thorough change wrought in him in this respect. This, as 
we said, is the work of the Holy Spirit, by means of the 
word, subduing the will, conquering the affections, and giv- 
ing a new impulse and direction to all the powers of mind 
and soul. And though this work is not accomplished at 
once, but is to go on to perfection, through the whole course 
of our probationary state, yet the change from a carnal to 
a spiritual state is momentary ; and this, in so far as it is 
man's act, is called conversion ; so far as it is the work of 
the Holy Spirit, in its first production it is termed regener- 



108 NO MAN WILL BE FINALLY 

ation, and in respect to its growth and increase through 
life, it is styled sanctificatiou. To obtain these influences of 
the Holy Spirit we must believe in the Lord Jesus ; for at 
the moment that a soul casts itself simply upon Christ for 
life and salvation, it is pardoned, and it is renewed. A new 
disposition is infused ; love, and gratitude, and joy, take the 
place of fear, and enmity, and opposition to God's holy char- 
acter and law. 

Now, so far from considering God's commands as being 
unnecessarily strict and exacting, he feels that they are all 
right and good, and with his inner man seeks to obey them, 
though he still feels a law in his members warring against 
the law of his mind, and but too often gaining a partial vic- 
tory, and leading him for a season captive. But he has 
had a taste of better things, and has found where his 
strength lies. From every defeat he rises again with 
the renewed determination to keep up the struggle to the 
end of life. And in the strength of Christ he is enabled, 
on the whole, to conquer. It is only when he is off his 
guard that the enemy gets the advantage of him. But he 
soon finds that " we wrestle not against flesh and blood," 
only or chiefly, " but against principalities, against powers, 
against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against 
spiritual wickedness in high places." Wherefore the Sa- 
viour warns His disciples, saying, " Watch and pray, lest 
ye enter into temptation." 

But while we "joy in God, through our Lord Jesiis 
Christ, by w^hom we have now received the atonement," 
assured that if " by one man sin entered into the world, 
and death by sin," it has served to bring in a better right- 
eousness, acquired by the obedience of one man, but let us 
not lose sight of our low original, how in Adam already 
the crown has fallen from our head, and instead of being 



CONDEMNED FOR ORIGINAL SIN. 109 

lords and kings of this lower world, we had become the 
bond slaves of sin and Satan, let us humble ourselves 
continually before God, while yet we rejoice in His salva- 
tion. 

The more thoroughly we are empti(.'d of self and all reli- 
ance upon our own strength and virtue, the more securely 
shall we go on, for we shall learn to look more constantly 
and with stronger faith, and more earnest cries to Him in 
whom is all our " strength, and wisdom, and righteousness." 

Thus shall we be enabled to hold on our course with stead- 
fastness and resolution. Our spiritual life, being hid wdth 
Christ in God, will be gaining strength continually, and w^e 
shall be able, too, to bring forth the fruits of righteousness 
in our outward lives, showing forth the praises of Him who 
has called us; who has purchased us to be His peculiar pos- 
session. His chosen people. His elect. And thus persever- 
ing to the end, as by the grace of God we may do, for 
" who shall separate us from the love of Christ ? " we shall 
in due season obtain " the end " and object " of our faith, 
even the salvation of our souls." 

But what shall we say to you who have never yet felt 
the burden of sin, causing you to cry out, " Who shall de- 
liver me from the body of this death ? " Could you but 
properly realize what an evil and corrupt nature you have 
brought with you into the world, and to what lengths of 
wickedness you may yet arrive, unless, by speedy repentance 
and turning to the Lord, you shall engage the Saviour on 
your side, and obtain the quickening aid of His Holy Spirit, 
you would shudder at your future selves. 

Take the very worst and most vicious character that you 
have ever read of, and reflect that, unless divine grace inter- 
pose, the time may come when you shall be as much more 
hateful and abominable than he now is, as he is compared 



110 CONDEMNED FOR OEIGIXAL SIN. 

with an infant in the cradle. TVhy, he was once an infant 
too, as innocent as any other. Could his mother when she 
leaned over him so affectionately, as in his sleep he smiled 
in his cradle, ever have believed that one day he would turn 
out the atrocious wretch that he now is ? And though you 
have not yet arrived at anything like the same pitch of 
wickedness, what shall hinder you from even passing be- 
yond, if God should give you up ? 

Adore then, on your knees, that grace which has hitherto 
preserved you from becoming as depraved as the lowest of 
mankind. But tremble at the thought of provoking your 
Maker by your obstinacy, to withdraw His Holy Spirit en- 
tirely. Beware of turning the love and compassion of 
your Saviour into wrath, and of learning by sad exj^erience 
how dreadful is the condition of him, who by refusing to 
be healed in the only possible way, has had his corruptions 
to ripen ajDace till his cuj^ of iniquity was full, and he was 
cut off as a cumberer of the ground and a vessel or wrath 
fitted to destruction ; from which may God in mercy deliver 
us. Amen. 



SERMON VII. 

ALL MEN GUILTY BEFOKE GOD. 
'^FoY all have sinned and come short of the glory of Grod." — Romaxs iii., 23. 

In dwelling so long and so repeatedly on. the sinfulness 
of men, we may be charged, perhaps, with taking an unnat- 
ural delio'ht in traducinsc human nature. Such has been the 
view taken by the opponents of the gospel in all ages. 
Christians, and especially Christian ministers, have been con- 
sidered to be haters of their race, secluding themselves from 
society, and indulging in feelings of dislike toward their 
fellow creatures, and of proud superiority over others. 

But very different are the motives that influence the 
faithful minister of the gospel, in holding up the mirror of 
God's word before the sinner. It is that recognizing his 
true character, he may be led to seek for that remedy which 
God in His infinite mercy has provided for our fallen race. 

Till a man is convinced of two things in relation to his 
spiritual condition, he can never be brought to repentance. 
One is, that he has no righteousness of his own to rely upon, 
but that all his life has been one of sin and rebellion, for 
which no exertions of his could possibly atone. The other, 
that neither has he any strength of his own to do better, if 
his past sins were forgiven him. But the Scripture assures 
us that by the law is the knowledge of sin; and that it is by 
the sinner's fruitless eflorts to keep the law, that he must be 
convinced of his utter inability to meet the requirements of 
the law, so as to merit heaven by his own righteousness. 



112 ALL MEN GUILTY BEFOPwE GOD. 

When thus thoroughly convinced of his guilt and helpless- 
ness, then will the offer of pardon through the merits of a 
crucified Redeemer, and of renewal by the power of the 
Holy Spirit, be gratefully accepted, and the sinner finds by 
blessed experience that the gospel is indeed, '' the power of 
God unto salvation, to every one that believes." 

Hence the apostle spends four chapters of our epistle in 
proving the necessity of such a plan of salvation as God has 
provided, if any one should be saved : while in the fifth, he 
urges the extent and value of the same ; in the sixth, guards 
against the abuse to which the doctrine of the free grace of 
God is liable, and shows in the seventh, by his own example, 
how he was brought to feel his need of salvation, and how 
the struggle in his breast ended with his embracing the gra- 
cious offer of salvation. In the eighth, he dwells upon the 
happiness of Christians, as secure, but rather in expectation 
than in actual possession. In the three following chapters, 
which close the doctrinal portion of the epistle, he meets 
the objections of the Jews, claiming to be the peculiar and 
exclusive people of God, and that to cast them off for not 
believing in Jesus, would be a breach of promise on the 
part of God. 

The verse which we have chosen for the foundation of 
our discourse to day, constitutes the summing up of the 
apostle's argument, by which he had proved the necessity 
of such a plan as the gospel provides, when he says : 

" Foe all have sinned and come short of the glory 

OF god." 

May the Lord enable me to discourse profitably from 
these words for Jesus' sake ! 

Before entering upon the discussion of our subject, it 
may not be amiss to remark that the latter part of the text 
may be taken in two ways, between which it may not be 



ALL MEN GUILTY BEFORE GOD. 113 

easy to decide, as either gives a suitable sense, but in the 
main they come out to the same thing. To " come short of 
the glory of God," may be understood to signify, to*fail of 
giving God the glory due unto His name ; or, in other 
words, to fail in rendering Him the due obedience. Or they 
may be taken to signify, failing to obtain the divine appro- 
bation ; but, as you easily see, that would be for not having 
rendered to God the obedience which He claims. 

We observed that a necessary preliminary to conversion 
is, that a man be convinced of his utterly ruined condition, 
both on account of his guilt in the sight of God, and his 
utter inability to stand on the ground of his own righteous- 
ness. For as our Saviour said to the self-righteous Phari- 
sees, " the whole need not a physician, but they that are 
sick." And a man must not only be sick to induce him to 
apply to a physician, he must also be aware of it, and sensi- 
ble too, that he can do nothing to restore himself, without 
the physician's aid. 

Now this, in regard to the spiritual disease of men, is 
just the difficulty. They will not be persuaded that their 
case is so desperate as the word of God represents the mat- 
ter. They are ready enough to allow that things are not just 
as they ought to be with them. But to tell them that they 
are indebted to the justice of God beyond all possibility of 
ever paying off the debt, and that if the old score were for- 
given, they would be running into debt again as much as 
ever, seems to them sheer exaggeration. 

One thing that may have contributed to men's unwilling- 
ness to believe the doctrine of the Bible on this head, is, 
probably the extravagant language which has sometimes been 
employed, as though men, all men, were already here, and 
in every instance before conversion, as bad as they could 
possibly be. Now, a man's own consciousness will often 



114 ALL MEN GUILTY BEFORE GOD. 

satisfy him, that he might be worse than he is ; that he has 
on various occasions resisted temptation, and has done acts 
of kincfness from imselfish motives. And all this we readily 
admit. We are ready to acknowledge much that is good, 
and amiable, and praiseworthy, in many of the unconverted. 
Indeed, if they were as bad as they could be, we believe 
that they would be past recovery, even by the means of 
grace ; and the Scriptures would bear us out in this view, 
though we shall not at present enlarge upon it. But when 
we speak of being justified in the sight of God and His 
holy law, it is evident that nothing short of perfect and ab- 
solute righteousness can meet the case. 

A comparison which we have often made use of, may 
settle the question at once. If a man has broken a law of 
the land and rendered himself amenable to its tribunal, it 
will not avail him that he has not violated some other law, 
or even all the laws of the land. When arraigned for theft 
it will not stop the course of justice, to say that he has not 
committed murder. 

Neither do we say, nor does the Bible say, that all, who 
are not finally saved, shall be punished alike. Our Saviour 
has taken special care to guard us against such a tliought. 
He speaks of one servant that shall be beaten with many 
stripes and another with few. He tells the people who had 
seen so many of His mighty works and yet had not re- 
pented, that it should be more tolerable for Sodom and 
Gomorrah, or for Tyre and Sidon in the day of judgment 
than for them. Every one will have to bear his own bur- 
den and receive according to what he has done while here 
in the body. 

Thus in our text and its connections, the apostle proves 
his assertion that all, without exception, are sinners in 
the sight of God, and as such can not be the objects of His 



ALL MEN GUILTY BEFORE GOD. 115 

approbation. This obstacle, therefore, must first be re- 
moved before a man can enjoy the favor of God, and the 
way in which this must be brought about is by a full and 
free pardon on such terms as will secure the honor of God's 
holy law and government, and cause the rebel to become a 
willing subject of God. And all this is provided for in the 
plan of salvation, devised by God, executed by the Saviour, 
apphed to the heart by the Holy Spirit, and revealed in the 
Scriptures of truth. 

But there is the second difficulty that we spoke of in the 
beginning of our address. Man has such an overweening 
opinion of his own ability to do right and to merit the favor 
of God by his own virtue, that it takes commonly a long 
time and a severe struggle, till the sinner is willing to cast 
away the rags of his own righteousness. Therefore, to 
prove the falsity of his opinion, God suffered the trial to be 
made for fifteen centuries, viz. : between the giving of the 
law and the coming of Christ, showing that it was utterly 
out of the question for any one to obtain righteousness by 
his own obedience ; as the apostle says in the eighth chapter 
of Romans, ''What the law could not do,'' justify a man 
in the sight of God, " in that it was weak through the flesh," 
that " God " accomplished by '' sending His own Son in the 
likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin." But notwithstanding 
this proof of the insufficiency of human ability to achieve 
righteousness, men are still disposed to try, and seldom does 
a soul come in earnest to Christ till after many eflbrts, as 
fruitless as they are laborious, to set up a valid claim upon 
the favor of God on the strength of its own endeavors. 
Therefore the apostle in the first place proves all the world 
guilty before God, so that every mouth might be stopped, 
and such vain attempts be at once and for ever relinquished. 

In pursuing his argument, St. Paul begins with the 



IIG ALL :m:ex guiltt befoee god. 

heathen, showing that tbey were far gone in all manner of 
vice and abomination. And in the sad picture which he 
draws of heathen corruptions he does not go farther, if 
hardly so far as their own writers. He shows that they 
were without excuse in forsaking the service of the true 
God and turning to idols ; for that the character of the Cre- 
ator and His claim upon our services were written as with 
a sunbeam upon His works. It was because the idea of a 
pure and holy God was a restraint upon their criminal de- 
sires, that they made to themselves gods in the hkeness of 
sinful men and of beasts, and of creeping things, paying 
to these the homage and worship which were due to God 
alone. 

From the ignorant and infatuated multitude the apostle 
next turns his attention to the philosophers and better class 
of heathens in general. With a most iugenious turn he 
taxes all with guilt that had ever pronoimced judgment 
upon the vices of others, as being at heart, and frequently in 
their conduct, not a whit better. '' Therefore," he says, 
'*thou art iuexcusable, man, whosoever thou art that 
judgest. For wherein thou judgest another, thou con- 
demnest thyself; for thou that judgest doest the same 
things." And if he yet expected to escape the just judg- 
ment of God, he must have very erroneous and unworthy 
ideas of the Holy One ; either that He was partial in His 
judgments, or unable to reach the most powerful with His 
punishments. 

From this the apostle proceeds to lay down the righteous 
principles of the divine government as applying to all men, 
Jows or Gentiles ; rewarding with eternal life all those that 
by patient continuance in well doing sought for glory and 
honor and immortality ; and visiting with condign ptmish- 
ment all such as were contentious and would not obev the 



ALL MEN GUILTY BEFORE GOD. 117 

truth. There are principles which approve themselves to 
the natural conscience of every man, whether he had en- 
joyed a divine revelation or not, proving all such to be de- 
serving of death as do not to the best of their ability strive 
after virtue and holiness. 

Xext, he addresses Jews in particular, such more espe- 
cially as boasted of their prerogative, showing them that 
while they did not submit to be saved in God's way, they 
were only the more guilty for all the advantages with 
which they had been favored ; and that a pious heathen 
would be accepted before a wicked Jew ; or, in the lan- 
guage of St. Paul : " Shall not uncircumcision, which is by 
nature, if it fulfill the law, judge " {i, 6., condemn,) "thee, 
who by the letter and circumcision dost transgress the 
law ? " 

After having briefly met the objections of a Jew, either 
that in such case they enjoyed no particular privilege ; or, 
that as no one could properly deprive God of His due 
honor, why should He yet punish men for their sins — ^the 
apostle makes a long list of quotations from the Old Testa- 
. ment, partly from the Psalms and partly from Isaiah, to 
show that the word of God views all mankind as sinners. 
For these declarations, such as, "There is none righteous, 
no, not one ; there is none that understandeth ; there is 
none that seeketh after God," and the like, being spoken 
to the Israelites who had the law, the divine revelations 
were, of course, intended to apply to them ; while the case 
of the heathen had been settled before. 

From all this the apostle draws the conclusion : " There- 
fore by the deeds of the law, there shall no flesh be justified 
in His sight ; for by the law is the knowledge of sin." All 
that the law can efifect, under the present condition of the 
human race, as fallen from then- original righteousness is 



118 ALL MEN GUILTY BEFORE GOD. 

by its opposition to their sinful desires, to exasperate these 
to greater violence, and to make a man feel his enmity to 
the divine requirements more sensibly ; and thus, also, in 
all that sincerely desired to enjoy the favor of God, to 
make them sensible of their helpless condition, and cause 
them to cry out in earnest : " Oh ! wretched man that I 
am, who shall deliver me ? " 

For truly the state of man by nature, till he has been re- 
claimed by divine grace, is wretched in the extreme. It 
does not require that a man should be guilty of every 
atrocity which would subject him to the abhorrence of his 
fellow creatures, and the vengeance of human law — ^^much 
less than this will subject any one to the sentence of the 
divine law. This our Lord teaches w^here He remarks that 
human law ( and divine law, after the inadequate interpre- 
tation of the Scribes of His day ) would condemn a man 
for killing another ; but tliat the divine law, ( in its true in- 
terpretation, as given by Himself,) would condemn a man 
for contemptuous language and irritating expressions, yea, 
for unreasonable anger even. 

And besides. Scripture clearly teaches, that the guilt in- 
curred by any wrong act is not to be measured solely nor 
principally by the degree of injury committed. The provo- 
cation, the intention, the degree of knowledge, and a variety 
of circumstances, which none but God in His omniscience 
can properly estimate, must be taken into the account, in 
order rightly to determine the exact amount of guilt in- 
curred. 

Another and very important consideration is the charac- 
ter and position of him against whom the crime is com- 
mitted. For a father to strike his son, though it should be 
unjustly, would not be esteemed so heinous a deed as if the 
son were to strike the father. 



ALL MEN GUILTY BEFOKE GOD. 119 

On this principle of the various relations between the of- 
fended party and the offender, it is evident that a sin against 
God must possess a degree of atrocity which no offense of 
man against man, as such, can have. 

Our natural sympathies are so strong towards our brother 
that we feel as if it were a much greater sin, for instance, 
to murder a fellow creature than to show disrespect to our 
Maker, and to refuse to yield obedience to His laws. 

N'ow, society has for the rule and measure of its enact- 
ments its own preservation. Hence, in the eye of human 
law to steal, or murder, or commit adultery, are greater 
crimes than idolatry or Sabbath breaking. Bat candid re- 
flection might teach us, that in the eye of God the case 
may be very different. A sin committed against our Ma- 
ker, rebellion against His government, and disrespect 
for His character. His worship and His honor, must have 
an impress of enormity which cannot attach to any injury 
done to a fellow creature, considered as such, I say consid- 
ered as such. For every crime committed against man is 
at the same time a sin against God, and will be so felt 
whenever conscience awakes, and some day or other every 
sleeping conscience will awake. Pray that it may awake 
on this side of eternity. Thus David, when he had been 
guilty of the complicated sin of adultery, treachery and 
murder — confesses with shame and deep contrition before 
the Lord, " Against Thee, Thee only have I sinned." The 
crime jp.e had committed against a weak woman and a faith- 
ful servant of his, deep and heinous as it was, lost its 
enormity in his eyes when compared with the injury 
done to the honor of God, and the sin of violating His 
law. 

And such is the plain and unmistakable decision of the 
word of God by the mouth of the Saviour Himself, who 



120 ALL MEN GUILTY BEFORE GOD. 

came expressly to fulfill the law, to rescue it from the false 
glosses of vain and vicious as well as ignorant scribes, and 
to teach it in all its breadth and depth. " The first and 
great commandment," said Jesus, is this, " Thou shalt love 
the Lord thy God with all thy heart and with all thy soul, 
and with all thy mind." And what sane mind can for a 
moment doubt it. 

But the greater the command, the greater the sin of vio- 
lating the same. And the greater the sin the more severe 
the punishment that awaits its commission. Now picture 
to yourself the greatest atrocity you have ever read of 
The cold-blooded murder of feeble women and innocent 
children and tender infants — all that we have heard or read 
of the cruelties of Nena Sahib and his men, or of pirates 
making their innocent victims walk the plank, or the mur- 
der of an uncle by his profligate heir, that he might obtain 
the property a little sooner — you feel that such monsters in 
human shape deserve the torments of the damned. But 
now imagine such a wretch to be called before the judg- 
ment seat on the great day, and at the same time, a man 
living and dying in a Christian land, who had been all that 
could be asked, only not a follower of Christ. He had been 
a kind husband and father, a good neighbor; just in his 
dealings, virtuous in his habits — but he has not worshiped 
his Maker, nor acknowledged his Saviour, though often ad- 
monished so to do. Which of the two, do you think, will 
receive the severer sentence ? Can there be any question ? 
" That servant which knew his Lord's will and prepared not 
himself, neither did according to his will, shall be beaten 
with many stripes ; but he that knew not and did commit 
things worthy of stripes, shall be beaten with few stripes." 

And that you, my unconverted friends, have not sunk into 
the basest and most atrocious crimes of w^hich human nature 



ALL MEN GUILTY BEFOKE GOI>. 121 

is capable, how much of it is owing to your own virtuous 
determination, and how much must be ascribed to tlie vari- 
ous checks by which you have been surrounded and kept 
from rushing into all the sins of the vilest ? How much to 
a Christian education and the force of good example and 
family order ? How much to the restraints of society and 
mere want of opportunity ? When you have made due al- 
lowance for all those favorable circumstances, how much 
will be left to be placed to your credit, think ye ? 

Yet we would not be understood as sustaining the infidel 
principle that man is just what his circumstances make him, 
neither more nor less. He is greatly influenced by circum- 
stances, no doubt, but he has a will and a conscience, and 
reason and feeling, by which he can resist the influence of 
circumstances, and no man, even the most vicious, has any 
right to say, like those wicked Jews of Isaiah's day, " We are 
delivered to do all these abominations." But while you 
continue in rebellion and disobedience towards God, though 
your lives in the sight of men should be unobjectionable, 
you are all the time guilty of breaking the first and great 
commandment, and will be held accountable for so doing. 
You are daily, yea momently, exposed to that " wrath of 
God " which '' is revealed from heaven against all ungodli- 
ness and mirighteousness of men who hold the truth in un- 
righteousness." Here you see how ungodliness is placed 
first, as the greater sin of the two, though no unrighteous- 
ness or injury inflicted upon a fellow creature will be passed 
over. But if sins against the second table shall be duly pun- 
ished, what will be the penalty for sins against the first ? 
And see the justice and impartiaUty of God implied in those 
words '* who hold the truth in unrighteousness," i. e., who 
knew what was right but would not do it. 

Unavoidable ignorance will exculpate a man at the bai 



122 ALL MEN GUILTY BEFOEE GOD. 

of God. Hence we consider idiots and insane persons not 
accountable — so far as they could not know that they were 
doing wrong. 

But a terrible doom awaits all those that sin knowingly 
and live and die in impenitence. The wrath of God is not 
a subject to be made light of. To such the gospel speaks 
in words of terror. "Behold, ye despisers, and wonder and 
perish !" " It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the 
living God." Why ? Because He lives for ever, and so 
long as he lives he will punish the despisers of His grace. 

Think of it, ye thoughtless ones. Tremble at the thought 
that you are provoking the anger of the living God, and if 
once you fall into His hands who shall rescue you and what 
end can you look for to your torments? "Fear not them 
which kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul ; but 
rather fear Him which is able to destroy both soul and 
body in hell." But if this destroying of soul and body 
meant annihilation, w^hat would, or could God do worse 
than men can do ? 

And if the apostle thought it right to warn those who 
heard the gospel for the first time against rejecting its gra- 
cious offers, lest they should fall under the sentence pro- 
nounced against despisers, what shall we say to you who 
have heard the conditions of salvation more than a hundred 
times, and have still held out against God ? Say, how long 
and how often yet do you mean to resist divine mercy, 
seeking to save you, when your conscience might tell you 
that for the very first refusal you deserve to be cast off for 
ever ? " How long then, ye simple ones, will ye love sim- 
plicity, and the scorners delight in their scorning, and fools 
hate knowledge ?" Yes ! how long ? " Who among us 
shall dwell with the devouring fire? who among us shall 
dwell with everlasting burnings?" 



ALL MEN GUILTY BEFORE GOD. 123 

Some such, we may say almost with certainty, there are 
among us. There will probably be no congregation to be 
found of whom it will not be true that " One will be taken 
and the other left," but who ? How proper for each one to 
say, " Lord is it I ?" Shall I once be turned away with that 
soul-chilhng address, '' I never knew you, depart from me 
ye that work iniquity." Ought there not to be great 
searchings of heart on this subject ? And " if the righteous 
scarcely be saved, where," where, " shall the ungodly and 
the sinner appear ?" 

But, I ask, what eflect should these solemn considerations 
that we have been dwelling upon have on our minds? 
Shall we seek to shake off the unpleasant feelings by which 
they are accompanied, and turn our thoughts upon some- 
thing that is more agreeable ? Many have done so who 
are now in hell, lamenting their folly with unavailing re- 
grets. Shall we follow their sad example, and share in their 
doom? 

Will it afford us any relief in that world of woe to re- 
flect that once we were warned, we were entreated to for- 
sake our sinful courses, but we chose to continue in our re- 
bellion till the long-suffering of the Lord, which we should 
have accounted and improved for our salvation, was ex- 
hausted, and He sware in His wrath that we should never 
enter into His rest ? 

Or will it be any assuagement of our pains, when rolling 
in the fiery gulf, to see many sharing with us in the same 
punishment ; some, perhaps, who were induced by our ex- 
ample, and our sneers or encouragement to run the awful 
risk, and who are now sharers of the same sufferings ? Who 
win make us the most cutting reproaches for having enticed 
them to continue in rebellion, when they were just about to 



124 ALL yLES GUrLTY BEFOEE GOD. 

yield to the call of the Saviour, and the drawings of His 
Holy Spirit ? 

But the reproaches of our own hearts, and the conscious- 
ness that we have richly merited our fate, will be by fer the 
bitterest ingredient of our cup. The thought that we might 
have escaped all this, yea, might have shared in all the bliss 
of the saints before the throne, but for our willful blindness 
and stubborn resistance of divine grace ; that to us the offers 
of mercy were made, and sincerely made, as well as to those 
who are now rejoicing in heaven, but we put them from us 
with disdain, just as you are now doing, my unconverted 
friends — that for our redemption was paid the same precious 
ransom of the blood of Christ, as a lamb without spot or 
blemish — that for our benefit the ordinances of God's house 
had been appointed, at the door of our hearts the Spirit 
had repeatedly knocked — as He is now knocking, O sinner ! 
but aU was in vain. We were resolved to have our own 
way. We were, as one expressed it, when his conscience 
w^as awakened just before he died — we were too strong for 
Omnipotence, we plucked down ruin upon ourselves, we 
would rather have our portion in this world, and take the 
consequences for the next. 

Oh, what sighs, what lamentations, what groans of an- 
guish, what tears of blood ^vill there be witnessed, which 
now might so easily be avoided, if men would be wise and 
consider their latter end. 

And is there one here that is prepared to think seriously 
of these things ; who wishes to be happy not only for the 
few days of his earthly existence, but in that long eternity 
that is to follow, who would rather suffer with the people of 
God here, that he might share in their joys hereafter, than 
to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a season — and how short a 
season at the best — and then to lie down in endless sorrow 



ALL MEN GUILTY BEFORE GOD. 125 

and remediless woe — now is your best, perhaps your last 
opportunity. 

But what must I do ? You must candidly acknowledge 
yourself guilty in the sight of God, and not try to hide or 
palliate your sins. You must go to the throne of God on 
your knees, and make a clean breast of it, casting yourself 
upon His free grace and mercy in Christ. So long as there 
is one sin you do not repent of, that you knowingly retain 
in your heart, rolling it like a sweet morsel under your 
tongue, so long you need not hope for pardon or peace. 

Should you, under these circumstances, obtain ease in your 
mind, depend upon it, it would be like the ominous removal 
of pain in one that had suffered from a violent disease, 
when mortification has set in. Better find no rest nor ease, 
as was the case with David till he confessed his sin. " When 
I kept silence," he says, when he would not acknowledge 
his guilt before the Lord, " my bones waxed old through 
my roaring all the day long." 

But you say, I do not feel my guilt as I ought, and how 
can I make confession ? The question is not how much 
you feel, but whether you feel at all, or if you even think 
that you have absolutely no feeling, provided you are con- 
scious that you are a sinner, and ready and willing to con- 
fess the same, you will be received into favor on humbly, 
honestly, confessing yourself guilty. Lay hold, only, on 
that covenant which is "well ordered in all things and 
sure," which is exactly adapted to your case. For in it the 
Lord has promised to take away the stony heart, and to 
give us a heart of flesh. That you have no feeling is part of 
your misery, and perhaps I should say, the very worst part 
— just the disease which needs the care and skill of an Al- 
mighty physician. And such is Jesus. To Him then you must 
go ; go just as you are ; go with all your complaints and sor- 



126 ALL MEN GriLTY EZFOSE G-OD. 

rows, and sins ; with your bard, obdurate heart, with your evil 
and corrupt inclinations, with all the black list of your sins. 

Think for a moment how have you lived hitherto ; what 
evil practices have you committed ; what slanderous lan- 
guage have yon nsed ; what blasphemous thoughts have 
you harbored; what sensual imaginations have you in- 
dulged ; how have you spent your precious time in reading 
novels or other trash; how have you misimproved jour 
Sabbaths ; and when you attended upon the woidiip of 
God how did your thoughts rove fixMu one folly to the 
other ; or how was the enmity of your heart stirred up 
mider a searching discourse ; how have you provoked the 
Lord by your neglect of His service, by your hard thoughts 
of Him ; how have yon trodden under foot the Son of God 
by your obstinate continuance in sin and unbdiel^ doing 
despite unto the Spirit of Grace — think of these things, 
and say are you not guilty5-and can you not acknowledge it ? 

But do not despair. Look to Jesus. See Hnn extended 
on the accursed tree of the cross. For whom did He en- 
dure all that anguish and disgrace ? It was for you, for 
me, for a world of sinners, for the whole world, that " who- 
soever beheveth in Him should not perish, but have ever- 
lasting life." Say, whv 1 ^^ Saviour suffer all these 
things? Oonld he il:: t rescued Himself from ffis 

enemies at any time _ -le seen fit ? Ck>uld He not have 
come down from rlir :::is as they tauntin^y desired Him 
to do ? Had He not power to lay down His life, and no 
one could take it from Him ? Was it not a perfectly vol- 
untary act, when, after crying, "It is finished," and saying, 
'' Father, into thy hands I eommit my spirit," He breathed 
out Eds soul, so that the Roman Centurion was struck, if 
not converted, at the ^^t^ saying, ''Truly, this was the 
Son of God." 



ALL MEN GUILTY BEFORE GOD. 127 

But the apostle tells ns why Jesus endured all this. It 
was " for the joy set before him," for the prize proposed, 
and that prize was human souls, that He should redeem and 
lead to glory — for this He " endured the cross and despised 
the shame," and if you are Avilling to die with Him to sin, 
you shall also live with Him in glory. 

Say, what are the joys of earth, few and empty, and 
unsatisfactory at the best, and liable to be removed at 
any moment, and if continued to us through a long life, 
only rendering their deluded votaries the more guilty for 
the abuse of their blessings, which by their folly they have 
converted into so many curses, as it is written, " Let their 
table be made a snare, and a trap, and a stumbling block, 
and a recompense unto them"— but what, at the best, are 
the joys of earth compared with the bliss of heaven ? 

Who would play the part of Esau, that profane person, 
who for a morsel of meat sold his birthright, and after- 
wards was rejected and found no place for repentance, 
though he sought it carefully with tears ? And oh ! the 
long, and lonesome and sad eternity that must follow upon 
a life devoted to earthly pleasures and pursuits ! 

How will the wretched subjects groan out, '' When will 
it be morning, when will the night be passed ? " But 
their jailors, the devils, will mutter, never^ and through the 
halls of their prison it will be reverberated from every side, 
never^ never ! Oh ! then, flee while you may from the 
judgment to come, Oh ye loiterers by the way. The aven- 
ger of blood is up and in pursuit. Do you not hear Iiis 
tramp, coming on faster and faster ? 



SERMON YIII. 

SALVATION OF FAITH, THAT IT MIGHT BE BY GRACE. 

" And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the 
Son of man be lifted up^ that whosoever believeth in Him should not 
perish, but have eternal life." — John" iii., 14, 15. 

" What shall I do to be saved,'' is the most important 
question that can be put by a human soul. And no where, 
but from the book which God has caused to be written for 
us, can we obtain a satisfactory answer to the same. Long 
had reflecting men. wearied themselves to have their doubts 
on this point removed. It was this that made Balak in- 
quire of Balaam, '' Wherewith shall I come before the Lord, 
and bow myself before the High God ? shall I come before 
Him with burnt offerings, with calves of a year old ? Will 
the Lord be pleased with thousands of rams, or with ten 
thousands of rivers of oil ? Shall I give my first born for 
my transgression, the fruit of my body for the sin of my 
soul ?" 

In vain had the most profound thinkers devoted all their 
powers to the discovery of this secret. Though thousands 
of thousands of innocent animals had been slain, to atone 
for human guilt and to appease the reproaches of an accus- 
ing conscience, this question never received a satisfactory 
solution until the "Lamb of God that taketh away the sin 
of the world " had been slain on Calvary, and offered on the 
altar of divine justice, as the ransom price of our salvation. 



129 

For a season all men are indifferent to this subject. They 
are so blinded by sin, or so engrossed with the cares of this 
life ; so taken up with things that are present and tangi- 
ble, as not to have any time or inclination to devote a seri- 
ous thought to this all-important point. And some there 
may be who leave the world without ever having been 
truly awakened to a proper sense of their condition. 

But let a man's eyes once be opened; let him realize 
that he is an accountable subject of God's moral dominion, 
owing all possible homage and obedience to his Maker, and 
sure to be brought to an account, some day, for all his deeds 
and words and indulged desires, and the indifference with 
which he used to treat this matter is gone at once. Now 
he anxiously looks around for help, and inquires what he 
must do to escape the damnation of hell. 

To such the language addressed by our Lord to Nico- 
demus will furnish a plain and ample reply to all their ques- 
tionings and doubts on this head. Let us, therefore, take 
occasion from these words to dwell upon the theme that 
will never grow old while there are sinners to be saved, nay, 
that will occupy the grateful recollections of the saved and 
sanctified throughout eternity : that 

Salvation is of faith, that it :m:ight be by grace. 

Do thou. Lord, prepare us to meditate profitably and 
savingly upon this subject. 

We intend to consider — 

Firstly, The nature of salvation by faith, as typified by 
the brazen serpent ; 

Secondly, The effects of this salvation when api3rehended 
by faith ; " he shall not perish but have eternal life." 

Thirdly, The suitableness of this method of salvation, 
ioth a^ adapted to man's weakness and necessities, and to 
the dignity and munificence of God. 

6* 



130 THAT IT MIGHT BE BY GEACE. 

We have^rs^j therefore, to dwell upon the nature of sal- 
vation by faith, as typified by the brazen serpent which 
Moses lifted up in the wilderness. The circumstances to 
which the Saviour alludes, are, no doubt, familiar to you 
all. Yet a rapid glance at the same, by way of refreshing 
your memories and calling the scene distinctly before your 
minds, will not be uncalled for. After wandering for near 
forty years in the wilderness, daily fed by the immediate 
hand of God, and having witnessed so many proofs of His 
power, whether displayed in goodness or severity — the chil- 
dren of Israel were commanded to take a circuit round the 
land of Edom, for it was not within the purpose of Jehovah . 
that they should make themselves masters of this land, which 
He had granted to the descendants of Esau, the brother of 
Jacob — the people, according to their wont, began to mur- 
mur at the length of the way, and to complain that they had 
no bread nor water, and that they were sick of that light 
food, as they termed the manna, miraculously made to fall 
around their camp every morning. 

To punish their rebellious spirit the Lord sent fiery ser- 
pents among them, whose bite v/as mortal, " and much peo- 
ple of Israel died." On their penitent confession that they 
had sinned, Moses was directed to make an image of the 
serpent out of brass and to " set it upon a pole." And it 
came to pass, that if a serjjent had bitten a man, Vv'hen he 
belield the serpent of brass he lived. This, we are in- 
formed by our Saviour, was a representation by a sensible 
image of the manner in which we are saved by faith in 
Him. It intimated that He '' must be lifted up," that is, be 
crucified, and exposed to public gaze as a malefactor, that 
through His atoning sacrifice whoever believed on Him 
should not perish but have eternal life. 

The comparison thus instituted by our Lord Himself, be- 



THAT IT MIGHT BE BY GRACE. 131 

tween the manner in which the Israehtes were healed of the 
bite of the poisonous serpents, and that in which the sinner 
is saved by faith in the Redeemer, leads iis to consider the 
latter as being simple, practicable, universal, and effectual. 
The manner, I say, in which the sinner is saved by faith is 
simple. It is but "Look and live." As the Israelite who 
felt the venom working in his frame had but to turn his 
dying eyes upon the brazen serpent, glittering in the sun, in 
the sight of all the camp, to be at once restored to perfect 
soundness; so the sinner, when he feels the poison of sin af- 
fecting his spiritual frame, and threatening speedy and in- 
evitable ruin, has but to look to Jesus, as hanging on the 
accursed tree, in order to be healed at once from his deadly 
wounds. 

But what do you mean by looking. It is to believe the 
record which God has given of His Son, that He sent Him 
into the world to seek and save that which was lost; to 
believe what the Scripture repeatedly and most positively 
asserts, that in and through Christ, God has been recon- 
ciled, that is. His justice bas been satisfied, the honor of His 
law rescued, the authority of His governm.ent maintained ; 
while at the same time every one that gratefully accepts the 
offered salvation shall never come into judgment : to believe 
that God desires nothing so earnestly, as that men should 
accept the offered peace, and return to their allegiance, and 
be adopted into His family, and enjoy His paternal smiles, 
for He will have all men to be saved, and to come unto the 
knowledge of the truth ;" or^ as St. Peter speaks, "the Lord 
is long suffering to usward, not willing that any should per- 
ish, but that all should come to repentance." He spares 
men's lives that they may yet be brought to reflection and 
saved from their sinful condition. 

Now this is all plain and simple, just as simple as when 



132 SALVATION OF FAITH, 

the Israelites were assured on the authority of God that if 
they would but look at the brazen serpent they should be 
healed. If they had but so much respect for their Maker 
left as to believe that He would not mock them in their 
distress by a false hope, and so much confidence in His 
power and wisdom that the means which He provided could 
not fail of being effectual, they would of course look, and oi 
course be healed. 

And if you, O sinner, have but so much respect left for 
your Maker, that when He solemnly assures you, even on 
oath, that He desires not your death, and that He has at 
His own expense provided a complete and sufficient rem- 
edy ; if you believe these positive declarations of the word 
of God, you shall enjoy the benefit ; you shall be restored 
to spiritual soundness, you shall be created anew. 

But you say, I do not see how this can be. Neither 
could the Israelite have understood how the simple act of 
looking on a brazen image could counteract the poison in 
his veins ; and if he had waited till all his doubts and diflS- 
culties had been answered, he would surely have died. But 
he looked, in simple reliance on the command of God, and 
was healed. And so may you. 

And only consider what is implied in it, when you say 
that you can not believe. What ! you can not believe the 
positive declaration of God, and that declaration confirmed 
by an oath ? You are not ashamed to express your doubts 
of the veracity of God ? Tou are not afraid of having it 
known that you think Him a liar, not fit to be trusted ? for 
such is the view which God takes of your conduct. " If 
we receive the witness of men," says the apostle John, "the 
witness of God is greater : for this is the witness of God, 
which he hath testified of His Son. He that believeth on 
the Son of God hath the witness in himself; he that be- 



THAT IT MIGHT BE BY GRACE. 133 

lieveth not God, hath made Him a liar, because he believeth 
not the record that God gave of His Son. And this is the 
record, that God hath given to us eternal life, and this life is 
in His Son." ISTow to believe what any one tells us, because 
we have confidence in his veracity, is a very simple thing. 

But to believe is not only a plain and simple thing, it is 
also perfectly easy and practicable. As it was an easy mat- 
ter for the dying Israelite to turn his eyes towards the bra- 
zen serpent, but this he had to do or perish, so it is with 
the sinner. But you will say. How can I believe ? 

There is often a very serious mistake committed on the 
subject of faith. If it meant to receive a truth on evidence, 
as, for instance, a mathematical demonstration that has been 
presented to our understanding — it might be true that some 
could not believe ; it might easily be that they had not the 
faculty or knowledge requisite to see the force of such a 
demonstration. But if they did see it, this would not be 
belief in the scriptural sense. This, on the other hand, is 
to believe a fact on testimony. This all men do ; and God 
has graciously so ordered our mental constitution that those 
whose mental powers are the most limited are the most 
ready to receive a thing on testimony, depending solely on 
the authority of him that testifies. " I thank Thee, O Fa- 
ther, Lord of heaven and earth," said our Lord on a cer- 
tain occasion, " because thou hast hid these things from the 
wise and prudent, and hast revealed them unto babes." 

Nay, He plainly told His disciples that unless they be- 
came as little children, they could not enter into the king- 
dom of God. But a child, we know, is ready to believe all 
that his father tells him. He wants no higher authority 
than, " Father says so." 

Do you sneeringly reply, then religion depends on cre- 
dulity, and the Catholic priests do well to keep the peo- 



134 SALVATION OF FAITH, 

pie as much as they can in ignorance ? We say, not so 
fast. To trust in the word of an honest man is not cre- 
duhty. Neither is it credulity to believe what God has 
told us in His word. 

True, a man may in the abuse of his free agency and by 
long continued endeavors to believe a lie ; by dishonesty 
and suppressing the voice of his conscience, and repressing 
all his better feelings — bring himself to that state of mind 
that he cannot believe. But then it is his own fault. 
Whether God shall be pleased in any case to overcome this 
difficulty, into which a man has brought himself by will- 
fully resisting the truth, I would not say with absolute 
positiveness, though I feel strongly inclined to doubt 
whether He ever does. 

This w^as the condition of some of the rulers of the Jews 
in our Saviour's day, wherefore He said to them : " How 
can ye believe that receive honor one of another, and 
seek not the honor that cometh from God only ?" There 
is such a thing as the sin against the Holy Ghost, which 
shall never be forgiven, neither in this world nor in that 
which is to come. But for such as have not yet reached 
such a pass of hardness of heart it is practicable for them 
to believe, just as it was for an Israelite to turn his eyes to- 
wards the brazen serpent. It is simply to take God at His 
word ; to believe that He means what He says. And he 
that has the least spark of honesty left, knows what that 
means, and while he has the least reverence for his Maker, 
he can exercise faith. 

But perhaps you will still object. How do I know that the 
promise is meant for me ? What right have I to take it to 
myself? This right lies in the universality of the invita- 
tion, which w^as the third feature we mentioned as pertain- 
ing to the plan of salvation. 



THAT IT MIGHT BE BY GRACE. 135 

This is expressed in every variety of language. We are 
assured that " Christ Jesus, by the grace of God, tasted 
death for every man ; " that as " there is one God," so 
" there is one Mediator between God and man ; that " who- 
soever will " may '' come and take of the waters of life 
freely." In connection with the words of our text, our 
Lord says, ^' For God so loved the world, that He sent His 
only begotten Son that whosoever believeth in Hira should 
not perish, but have everlasting life." We are assured by 
St. Paul that there is no distinction made betwixt Jew and 
Greek, "for all have sinned and come short of the glory of 
God." Again he says, that " God hath concluded them all 
in unbelief that He might have mercy upon all." 

In short, this truth, that Christ's death was for the bene- 
fit of the whole race, as such, without any exception, is so 
clearly contained in Scripture that in our day there are few 
if any that would wish to deny it. 

As one of the human family, sharing in the common ruin, 
you have a right, God has given it to you, Christ has pur- 
chased it for you — to come to the Saviour at His gracious 
invitation, when He says, '' Come unto me, all ye that labor 
and are heavy laden and I will give you rest." Tou have 
a claim upon His services, as the physician of souls, if only 
you are sick, and the more sick you feel yourself, the more 
need, and hence the stronger claim you have upon the help 
of the physician. 

How many have deprived themselves for months and 
even for years of the benefits of Christ's mediation, through 
their folly in giving heed to the doubts arising in their 
minds, or rather infused by the enemy of their souls, who 
seeks by every diabolical art to keej) poor perishing sinners 
away from Christ, that they may share in his damnation. 

But when at last, giving over all vain speculation and 



136 SALVATION OF FAITH. 

questioning and doubting, the soul is induced to throw 
itself simply upon- the mercy of God in Christ Jesus, how 
soon does it find by blessed experience, that in Christ there 
is a fullness of sufficiency exactly adapted to the wants of 
the sinner, and that at this fountain of living waters all the 
world may come and quench their thirst, and there would 
still be enough for a thousand worlds besides, if such there 
were that needed salvation. 

How does joy and rapture fill the breast to overflowing, 
the moment the sinner is thus enabled by faith to Jay hold 
on the righteousness of Christ for salvation ; to realize that 
he has nothing to fear from the justice of God, for that was 
satisfied by the death of our surety ; nothing from the anger 
of God, for it was His love that provided a Saviour ; yea, 
that determined to send Him into the world to die for sin- 
ners, long before the world was created, or man or angel 
had sinned ! 

How does the soul wonder at its own stuiDidity, in re- 
maining in its prison so long, when it was told on the 
authority of God that the doors had been unbolted, and he 
was called uj^on to come forth and enjoy the liberty pur- 
chased for him by the death and sufte rings of God's well 
beloved and only-begotten Son ! 

And such is your condition, ye unconverted — you are 
commanded to come -out of your present state of enmity 
and rebellion ; to embrace the kind ofiers of God who is 
reconciled, of the Saviour who drank for you the bitter cup 
of divine indignation and wrath. Yet there you sit and 
will not stir. Indeed you are fastening on with your own 
hands, those chains and manacles which the Saviour had 
burst for you at the expense of His life. You bolt the doors 
of mercy against yourselves and say you can not come. 

But what, think ye, must such folly lead to ? It is in 



THAT IT MIGHT BE BY GRACE. 137 

deed insanity, moral insanity, the insanity of a will ren- 
dered furious by long resistance of the truth; so much more 
lamentable than the insanity of the intellect, as it leaves you 
accountable for all your hard thoughts and hard speeches 
against God, and all the wickedness that you are contin- 
ually guilty of while you continue in this condition. 

And tell me not that you must wait till God by some 
miraculous interposition shall change your heart. He has 
done, and is constantly doing, all that is necessary on His 
part ; even as He provided the proper remedy for the Is- 
raelites, when He commanded Moses to set up the brazen 
serpent and to command the people to look upon it. Should 
any one have said, "but I am too far gone to be benefited," 
and thus had refused to look up, why then he must perish 
and his blood would be upon his own head. So also, if any 
thought that they knew of a better remedy than so simple 
a thing as Moses proposed, he too, while he was applying 
Lis antidote, would find it inefiiectual and die in the foolish 
attempt. 

Or if one, though stung, thought it would not prove 
mortal, and that he was not sick enough yet, to put himself 
to any trouble about it, how soon might the poison, before 
he was aware, strike upon a vital part, and put it forever 
out of his power to profit by the gracious plan provided by 
the Lord ? 

Xow apply the picture which the Holy Spirit has drawn 
in the word to your own case and circumstances. 

The wounded Israelites are the types of the children of 
men, wounded by the bite of the old serpent. The serpent 
set up by Moses represents the Saviour, made such by the 
law, of which Moses is the visible manifestation, for it was 
the sentence of the law which the Saviour underwent in 
our stead ; as it is written, " Cursed is every one that 



138 SALVATION OF FAITH, 

hangeth on the tree." And by assuming the likeness of sin- 
ners, as the brazen serpent bore the likeness of the poison- 
ous reptiles, it was that Christ effected the salvation which 
is now in His name to be proposed and urged upon all men 
without distinction, for we are commanded to " preach the 
gospel to every creature." And all that is now yet want- 
ing to effect a complete cure, is, that you should in spirit 
look upon Him whom your sins have pierced, that you 
should thankfully accept the proffered pardon of your sins ; 
that you should believe in the Lord Jesus and you shall be 
saved. 

But in order to this an effort is required on your part. 
The Israelite, perchance, was lying back in his tent, and 
had to crawl to the door before he could see the brazen 
serpent; so you may have to make some little effort to 
bring yourselves within reach of the saving grace of God. 
And is it not worth the pains of a diligent search ? Is sal- 
vation a thing to be made light of? Do you suppose that 
God will thrust it upon you without your asking for it, or 
even against your will ? Or will you be as easy and care- 
less about it as you now are, when with Dives you find 
yourselves suffering the intolerable torments of the worm 
that never dies, and the fire that is never quenched." 

But you are still afraid to come ; for guilt is timorous. 
God knows it, and will make due allowance. Nay, He has 
done all that He could do, to make your return to duty and 
happiness as easy as possible. He does not ask you to do 
any great thing ; though in that case, perhaps, you would 
have been ready to try at least. All he asks of you is, 
" look and live." He requires you to believe His kind in- 
tentions toward you ; as He says, " My thoughts toward 
you are thoughts of peace and not of evil." He asks noth- 
ing of you but what is in your power to do, if you were 



THAT IT MIGHT BE BY GEACE. 139 

only willing. More than that, He reasons with you, He 
expostulates. He urges. He beseeches you now to be recon- 
ciled, seeing He has done so much towards effecting a cor- 
dial and lasting reconciliation. " Come, ye backsliding 
children, and I will heal your backslidings." Only acknowl- 
edge your transgressions, confess yourselves sinners, and 
pray earnestly that your sins should be forgiven you. Be 
only as earnest in this matter, on which your soul's ever- 
lasting welfare depends, as you are in any earthly under- 
taking in which you feel interested. Soon shall you hear 
the gentle voice of your Saviour, saying unto you, as He 
did to many a poor creature that applied to Him when He 
was on earth, " Son, daughter, thy sins, which are many, 
are all forgiven thee. Thy faith hath saved thee." 

Try the efficacy of prayer. To pray is to come to the 
Saviour. It is looking to Him. And he that looks shall 
live. For the method is effectual, it is an infallible method 
if truly followed. As many of the Israelites as looked 
were healed. And where did you ever read in the gospels 
of any who humbly applied to the Saviour for help that 
were rejected ? 

Did he not sometimes yield to the importunity of those 
that came to Him, when in a certain sense He had not in- 
tended to do anything. Such was the case with the Syro- 
phenician woman, whom He first repulsed with a word 
that sounded harsh. " It is not meet," says He, " to take 
the children's bread and cast it unto the dogs." " Yea," 
says the woman, "yet for all the dogs eat of the crumbs 
that fall from the children's table." " O woman," the Sa- 
viour replies, " great is thy faith. Be it unto thee as thou 
hast desh^ed." 

Or when have you heard of one that sought the Lord in 
earnest that did not sooner or later find pardon to his soul. 



140 SALVATIOX OF FAITH. 

How many have there 1:0: be-i:. ^."■: - ' ^ ■-- --'-': Dadd, 

"I sought the Lord aci Hr Lrara ^._ :: . : :/ -red me 

from all my fears." The : -:. ;!- ::;:::. : : e of G i 
is engaged to sa\'e all td:..: b-dcve ; and have you any tear 
of the issue, if eo>- y:o :e^: v.:-.;:-^r"f d:::;:fy on His word? 
And what is the salvation tnat we shed -00: c :n ^ 

This was the 5eeo??<7 point to which vc vere to cad your 
attention, viz.: the e^V r h ^. These oar Saviour in 

the text jDresents under two pcints cd" view First, negc^ 
tively^ that such '' shall not perish.** YL-n ]K'-ntiv€ly, "but 
have eternal life." It would take us tco ::_ to dwell par- 
ticularly upon each or either of these benedts connected 
with faith. 

A few words of eh.;,.. : 0:0 mu-: sudice. " tha' '"o:-:'ever 

believeth in Hint sheod 00 riish but have e .::e." 

The whole plan of salvo:: :n vr-:> :n :hr o.--umption that 
men are by natuiv in a ]oe:o-h:ng o:nd:v:n end most be lov 
ever ruined unless they .j:n:e ::■ Ch:o::. Bo: so:h :s O'enoe 
to Him and remain stea ;:o-: in :h- :d::h ^hod n^: d 1 -:i-h. 
So soon as they believe they pass from death imto life. 

The cause ed imen's lV odciuno:: ;n i- t::e guid that lies 
upon them in c:n-r:^Uznjr :f :dr:: -d:^ : >:: :':^'z:r d ingwhat 
God has forbidden, and ou:i::oog :: 1: wl :.: Hr ::o- com- 
manded. And the misery of this god.ty state is still more 
enhanced, btoao-r 1: " ' ^ :o:poscd to the holy 

character tef God ._ o - .^ . . ^ :: Ki- iaw ; so that 

till renewed by divine grace they can n:: Srrve God in 
spirit and truth. 

Now to meet this two-fold difficulty, the gospel has been 
constituted as it is. Man can not atone for the least of his 
transgressions; he is indebted In ten th:o-:: :1 talents and 
has nothing a: aii :0' tsy wi:h. Here divine mercy steps in 
to his relief. The Son of God assumed human -'- r ^^- '^. 



THAT IT MIGHT BE BY GRACE. 141 

He might in His own sacred person pay the debt which we 
had incurred, and by His perfect obedience to the law, 
(which it was not naturally incumbent on Him to do,) He 
wrought out everlasting righteousness in our behalf. To 
every one now who gratefully acknowledges the kind inter- 
vention of the Saviour, that is, who believes on Him, " his 
faith is counted for righteousness." His sins are forgiven, 
and he has the assurance of this in his heart, in proportion 
to the strength of his faith. 

But no one can truly realize this infinite favor .without 
feeling his heart warmed into love and gratitude towards 
his kind deliverer. He receives now the Holy Spirit into 
his heart, who renews his mind and enables him to under- 
stand more and more of the love of God in Christ, and thus 
excites his love still more, so that he is desirous to know 
the will of God in order to do it. He now obeys not from 
a slavish or a mercenary spirit, but from love. He would 
obey if there were no law enforcing obedience. Thus har- 
mony has been restored between the soul and its Maker, 
and as the necessary consequence, harmony between his 
higher and lower nature, or at least, the higher, " the new 
man in Christ Jesus," is restored to its proper position, 
though the lower powers, " the flesh," as Scripture terms it, 
will yet strive for the mastery, and thus a constant struggle 
goes on, which will not fairly end till death. 

Now he that perseveres unto the end in this warfare, 
shall never perish, but shall have eternal life. This life, as 
our Saviour assures us, is begun here already in the present 
state. Indeed it begins at the moment of a man's believing 
and surrendering himself a w^illing subject of divine grace ; 
just as when the new born infant opens its lungs to the air 
and it rushes in, and its earthly life begins ; so does the 
Spirit of God enter in at the moment of beheving, and the 



142 SALVATION OF FAITH. 

spiritual life begins. And from this beginning by proper 
care it will continue and increase till it shall be swallowed 
up in that eternal state of blessedness which awaits all faith- 
ful soldiers of the cross. 

We hasten on to dwell for a few moments upon the third 
topic that we have promised, viz : the suitableness of the 
plan of salvatioii^ both as resi^ects God and man. 

We shall barely throw out a few hints. And firsts it is 
suited to the majesty of God. It makes due provision to 
secure the honor of God. It gives Him all the glory ; as 
the apostle says "it is of faith, that it might be by grace." 
It must be received as a free and unmerited gift, or it can- 
not be enjoyed by man. It requires of the sinner a free 
and frank confession of his guilt, in order to his being par- 
doned. It calls upon the rebel to lay down his arms, if he 
would be restored to the rights of citizenship under the 
divine government. It demands implicit submission to the 
directions of the Captain of salvation, and faithful labor in 
His service. 

^NTo one that refuses to yield this service, and to submit 
to these conditions, can be received into the ranks of the 
true church. He may unite outwardly with the people of 
God, and share in their privileges. But no sense of par- 
doned sin, no love of God shed abroad in the heart can he 
enjoy. His own heart accuses him of hypocrisy in joining 
the ranks of the redeemed, while he is conscious that he 
has no right to take a place among them. Bat all that have 
truly tasted the mercy of God will unite in giving Him all 
the praise of their salvation, 

Again^ the royal munificence of the Lord is gloriously 
displayed in this method of saving sinners. When God 
gives He gives with a liberal hand. When He forgives our 
sins. He at the same time gives us a title to sonship, and a 



THAT IT MIGHT BE BY GRACE. 143 

claim to a share in the inheritance reserved for His faithful 
people. The covenant which He makes with them in Christ, 
contains all that God can bestow upon a creature, and all 
that the largest wish and capacity of the creature can pos- 
sibly ask for or contain. Says the apostle to the Corinth- 
ians, '' All things are yours, whether Paul, or Apollos, or 
Cephas ; or the world, or life, or death ; or things present, 
or things to come ; all are yours, and ye are Christ's, and 
Christ is God's." 

When God gave us His own Son, He gave us the richest 
treasure that He possessed, and thus has engaged Himself 
to give us every thing that we can possibly need to make 
us happy in time and eternity. " Oh ! the depth of the 
riches and of the wisdom and knowledge of God !" 

But the plan of salvation, as you have seen, is no less 
adapted to the wants and the weakness of man. Seeing he 
is unable to do any thing towards his own restoration, God 
has committed the work into the hands of His dear Son, 
whose glory it is to save the poor, the lost, the wretched, 
the depraved. None is sunk so low as to be beyond the 
power of Christ to restore, if he will only in earnest apply 
to Him. Whoever looks up to Him as " crucified for our 
sins, and risen again for our justification," shall live. Uni- 
ted to Christ by faith, he can draw from Him all needed 
strength and assistance; even as the branch receives the 
sap from the stock on which it has been grafted. No mat- 
ter how sick we are in a spiritual sense, if we but look to 
Christ we shall be restored to health. 

If we look upon ourselves we may well despair. But 
when we look to Christ, we may exult in the prospect of a 
sure deliverance. " Look unto me and be ye saved all ye 
ends of the earth." Such is the invitation sent forth into 



14-4 SALYATIOX OF FAITH, 

all the world. And whoever hears it may come and share 
in the blessing. 

And though you have nothing to pav, only come. It is 
all the better, for our King would scorn to sell His favor. 
He gives freely and liberally to all that will receiv? salva- 
tion as a free gift. But those who come with a price in their 
hand may expect a repulse. This is what prevents many 
from enjoying the blessing of pardoned sin. They want to 
do something, be it ever so little, towards their justiiica- 
tion. But the slightest whisper of merit on our part, will 
corrupt all our prayers, our sacrifices, and good works. 

At the same time we must be willing to give up every 
sinful practice and desire. One sin unforsaken and unre- 
pented of, will as surely consign us to endless death, as 
a hundred. And you can as easily have a hundred for- 
given as one, if you are sincerely penitent and believe in 
Christ. 

But you say, you try to believe, and still you feel weak 
and are not conscious of any improvement in your spiritual 
condition. Then what we have to say to you is : Hold on ; 
be determined to persevere, though it may seem like row- 
ing against the stream, and though you feel as if you could 
hold out but a very little longer. TTell, only hold out while 
you can, and when all your strength is gone, then let your- 
self fall, and you will fall into the outstretched arms of 
your Saviour, whose compassion for sinners is too great to 
allow Him to stand by and see them perish, while they do 
not willfully and purposely resist His grace. 

At the same time let me admonish you to enter upon a 
close and rigid examination of your feelings, views and mo- 
tives. Be assured that the tault why you are not helped 
lies in yourself; that there is some evil present in your 
hearts which counteracts and neutralizes the remedv which 



THAT IT MIGHT BE BY GKACE. 145 

God has provided. That this should fail where it is prop- 
erly applied, is just impossible. 

Perhaps there is yet one darhng sin that you are not will- 
ing to give up, even if it be at the cost of losing your soul. 
Well, depend upon it, this must be done or you are lost. 
'^ If thine eye offend thee, pluck it out and cast it from thee, 
it is better for thee to enter into life with one eye, than hav- 
ing two eyes to be cast into hell-fire." And by all means, 
do not trifie in such a case with your convictions. Do not 
look on your neighbor, a professed Christian, who indulges 
in such practices. Possibly he may innocently do it, and 
you not. Or he may be under a sentence of death, but 
God in His long suffering is sparing him yet a while, that 
he may repent and be saved. But be his case as it may, it 
furnishes no excuse for you, and you may count upon it 
with absolute certainty that you must yield in this matter 
to the warnings of an enlightened conscience, or perish in 
your sins. 

Or, you have yet some little rags of self righteousness 
hanging about you, which you think might be left you, 
without having to appear before the Lord in perfect naked- 
ness. But so long as you cling to these you will never be 
clothed in the righteousness of Christ, in which alone, how- 
ever, you can be admitted into the wedding hall above. 

Or, Avhat amounts to the same thing, you have not full 
confidence in the power and ability of Christ to heal you. 
He may do something for you, and a great deal too, but 
you must do something for yourself. But this will make 
Him withhold His aid. You must quit all other physicians, 
and give yourself entirely into His hands, to treat you as 
He thinks best. You must not prescribe to Him the time, 
or way, or manner, only so far as He has promised in His 
word. His promise you can hold up to Him and expostu- 



146 SAXTATIOX OF FAITH. 

late with Him as much as you please, if He seem to tarry 
and not to grant your requests. 

Sometimes there is a constitutional difficulty in the way » 
of that joyful sense of pardon which others have had. Our 
tempers and dispositions are various, and equally so in sec- 
ondary matters is our experience ; and for any one to try 
himself by his neighbor's ex|3erience, and not simply by the 
word of God, may prove a snare. Much also depends on 
the kind of jDreaching we have heard, or the instructions 
we have received in childhood. Hence it is much harder 
for some to believe than for others. Tliey have so many 
objections to meet, before they can see their way clear ; so 
many mountains of doubt and difficulty to pass, and have 
not the faith to say : '' Be thou removed hence, and cast 
into the sea." But could they, would they only come at 
the gracious invitation of the Saviour, and like blind Bar- 
timeus, when he was told that Jesus was calling him, 
cast away every encumbrance and come at once, nothing 
doubting, caring for nothiug, and cast themselves at His 
feet, how soon would they hear him ask, " What wilt thou 
that I shall do unto thee ; " and how soon at their bumble 
petition, would the scales fall trom their eyes, would the 
leprosy of their souls be healed, would they feel new 
strength and vigor flowing through their veins. 

Joy would take possession of their souls ; gratefully 
would they join the band of those who fear the Lord, while 
they would call upon their neighbors and cojnpanions, say- 
ing, " Come and hear, all ye that fear God, and I will de- 
clare what he hath done for mv soul." Amen. 



SERMON IX 



THE GEEAT LOYE OF GOD. 



"But God commendeth His love toTvard us, in that while we were yet sin- 
ners, Christ died for us." — Romaxs v., 8. 

It is Avith a feeling of deep anxiety, my friends, that I 
take i^p the subject which these words present, for I know 
that it is one that must win oyer your souls to the cause of 
God and His Christ, or there is great danger that you will 
sink into that state of hardness of heart from which there 
is no conversion or salvation possible » 

To this condition you are approaching with greater or 
less rapidity every time that you listen to the offers of 
mercy without being induced to relinquish your opposition 
to God. But the consideration of the great love that God 
has shown to our guilty souls, is the most powerful principle 
that can be brought to bear upon the human heart ; and if 
this is resisted, it is difficult to tell what shall affect it. The 
Saviour Himself has hinted at this when He says, " And I, 
if I be lifted up, will draw all men unto me," intimating 
that the story of the cross, of the sufferings which He en- 
dured for our salvation, would be the grand means em- 
ployed to gain the affections of a world estranged by sin 
from its Maker. 

To have this subject clearly presented to our minds and 
still to continue in rebellion, is, therefore, to have the most 

'% 7 7 7 

powerful remedy applied to our case, without any beneficial 



148 THE GEEAT LOVE OF GOD. 

result; which therefore must show our condition to be 
nearly hopeless. 

That God can not find means to reach even the most ob- 
durate case, we would not say, but these means must be 
very severe indeed, and are not such as He usually employs. 
And of this we are sure that your case becomes more des- 
perate with every new attack made upon the stronghold of 
the enemy without effect. But as it is our duty, as a watch- 
man on the walls of Zion to call upon men to repent, 
" whether they will hear or forbear," we would once more 
in the fear of God, and with fervent prayer to Him for suc- 
cess, address ourselves to the unconverted portion of our 
audience, while we call upon you to consider the greatness 
of that love which God has manifested to our ruined and 
rebellious race, you and me included. 

" (?oc7," says the apostle, " cormnendeth His love toward 
'US, in that while we were yet sinners^ Christ died for us.^^ 

When the Lord would test the devotion of His servant 
Abraham, He required of him to offer up his well-beloved 
son, as a burnt offering. " Take now," said He, " thy son, 
thine only son Isaac, whom thou lovest, and offer him for a 
burnt offering on one of the mountains which I will tell thee 
of." And Abraham we find stood the test. Though he 
loved Isaac so much, he loved God more, and was ready, at 
His command, to slay him with his own hand. But the 
Lord had not designed that matters should jDroceed to this 
length. When Abraham had shown that he was ready to 
obey a command, seemingly so severe, his hand was stayed 
when in the very act of raising the knife to slay his son. 
The Lord exf)ressed himself satisfied ; " Xow I know that 
thou fearest God, seeing thou hast not withheld thy son, 
thine only son, from me." 

By this transaction the Lord would at the same time give 



THE GREAT LOVE OF GOD. 149 

to Abraham a conception so far as human circumstances 
could furnish a comparison, of the greatness of that love 
which God was going in due time to display towards the 
fallen family of man in the gift of His Son. 

Did Abraham ofler to God that which constituted his 
most valued possession, his best beloved son? So did God, 
in sending His Son on earth to die for sinners, offer up for 
them His most precious treasure, this most beloved object 
of His affp.ctions. But what a contrast in every other par- 
ticular ! What comparison between a sinful mortal who 
had deserved death as all of us have, for our multiplied 
transgressions of God's holy law — and Him who was not 
only the Eternal Son equal with the Father, but who as 
man, perfectly kept the law and could claim eternal life in 
virtue of His tmtarnished obedience ; but who, notwith- 
standing, was subjected to the most cruel torments ; while 
Isaac, though severely tried, was spared the last stroke. 

And what God required of Abraham, was no more than 
He had a perfect right to demand. For all His creatures 
belong to Him by an absolute right. Hence Abraham 
would have proved a rebel to the divine government had 
he refused to give up his son. Great as might be his claim, 
as against any other than God; towards Him he had as 
good as no claim at all ; so that at the most he only gave 
back to God what had been lent him for a season. 

Btit what claim had we upon God, that we should ask of 
Him to give up His Son for us ? Xot only as His crea- 
tures, had we been sinless, could we have put forth no 
such demand, without incurring the charge of the most 
heinous effrontery, but as sinners, as enemies, we had for- 
feited all claim upon the very least of God-s mercies. We 
were only living on His forbearence; and cotild have ex- 
pected nothing else, if He should send His Son to revisit 



150 THE GREAT LOYE OF GOD. 

this earth, than that He would execute vengence upon a 
race that had provoked the patience of God so long and so 
atrociously. 

To have sent His Son to save those that in any degree 
feared and worshiped Him, would have been excess of 
kindness, seeing how ill-deserving the best of men were. 
But it was for enemies, for those that were in open rebel- 
lion against the government of God ; who were defying His 
power, insulting His messengers ; rejecting His commands 
with contempt and insult — for wretches of this cast, for you 
and me, it was that God sent His Son into the world, and 
that not to appear in state, and to enjoy earth's honors, but 
to be treated as an outcast, to be opposed, slandered, hated, 
betrayed, condemned, crucified. For did Isaac suffer only 
the fear of death, in a few moments to be relieved from his 
terrors, and restored to his father and the family ; Christ 
had to taste all the bitterness of death, in its most appalling 
forms, and attended by every cruelty that the most diaboUcal 
hatred could devise. Isaac had his beloved father to stand 
by him and encourage him in submission to the expressed 
will of God. But the Saviour felt that He was alone in the 
hour of His greatest need, so that in the anguish of His 
soul He exclaimed, ^' My God, my God, why hast thou for- 
saken me." 

Thus did the Lord commend His love, prove its extent 
and intensity, by giving His Son to die for us, when we were 
enemies ; to suffer in our stead the punishment which we 
had deserved, and to suffer it at the hands of the very 
creatures for whom He died. 

Say, was ever love like this ? Yet " so did God love the 
world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever 
believeth in Him, should not perish but have everlasting 
life." And what does He require in return, but that we 



THE GREAT LOVE OF GOD. 151 

should love Him again, who has first loved us ? Such were 
the yearnings of our heavenly Father's heart, toward His 
rebelUous children, that He would do any thing, consistent 
with His holiness, make any sacrifice, yea, the greatest that 
it was possible for God Himself to make, in order to recover 
our wandering affections, to reclaim His straying creatures. 
And it is just by this exhibition of a love past all concei> 
tion strong, that He seeks to win our love. If this should 
fail, what is there, what can there be, to effect it ? The 
story of the Saviour's sufferings has often proved to be 
powerful to break the hardest heart, and to melt the most 
obdurate into tears. 

A narrative in point, has come under my notice, within a 
few days. At a convention of ministers that took place in 
Germany, last June, at a place called New Dietendorf, the 
president had, on the morning preceding the first session, 
been required by the magistrate to attend at the execution 
of a criminal. He alluded in his opening address to the 
power exerted by the story of the Saviour's sufferings 
which he had that morning witnessed. The culprit had in- 
sisted all along upon his innocence, and was so greatly ex- 
asperated at the injustice which he said was done him, that 
no expostulations or admonitions of the minister seemed to 
take any effect upon his mind. 

But when it was represented to him what Jesus had in- 
nocently endured for the salvation of men, a change no less 
sudden than that which is recorded of the thief on the 
cross, came over his feelings. He at once became quiet as 
a lamb, and though he still persisted in the declaration of 
his innocence, he acknowledged that he had richly deserved 
his death at the hands of his Maker, against whom he had 
sinned so long, and prayed for a fellow-criminal, to whose 
obstinate refusal to acknowledge the truth, he owed his own 



152 THE GREAT LOYE OF GOD. 

condemnation. And even so will any one find that the mo- 
ment that he gives room for the love of God to enter his 
heart, his feelings will undergo a complete change ; he will 
feel gratitude and affection for so gracious a benefactor, 
springing up, absorbing his every feeling, and causing him 
to exclaim from the bottom of his soul, what shall I render 
to the Lord for all His benefits toward me ?" or with Saul> 
when overpowered by the heavenly vision, he cried ''Lord, 
what wilt thou have me do ?" 

Constituted as rational beings are, nothing but love can 
win love. And to recover the lost affections of His rebelli- 
ons creatures, it was necessary that God should give them 
such a proof of His kind purposes, as would counterbalance 
the evil inclination of men's hearts, and cause them to sur- 
render themselves as willing captives to love. Says the 
apostle, '' We love Him, because He first loved us." And 
again, "Herein is love, not that we loved God but that He 
loved us, and sent His Son to be the j^ropitiation for our 
sins." 

But in order to be made sensible of the greatness of the 
love of God, we must first be made sensible of our sinful- 
ness and ill desert, and that, without the shedding of blood, 
and that of the blood of the Son of God as of a Lamb with- 
out blemish or spot, there could be no remission. And to 
be made sensible of this requires that we should have a 
proper view of the holiness, the justice, the spirituality and 
the equity of the divine law. But if once, under the influ- 
ence of the Holy Spirit, whose office it is to convince men 
of sin, of righteousness and of judgment, a man's eyes have 
been opened, to see himself somewhat in the light in which 
God sees hira, as a sinner deserving of hell and doomed to 
eternal torments, unless a surety could be found, a substi- 
tute who would pay his debt— when^ once, these things are 



THE GREAT LOVE OF GOD. 153 

presented clearly to the eyes of the understanding, then 
every other interest and aim, sinks into insignificance by the 
side of the great question, " What must I do to be saved?" 

And when now the sinner looks around with the deejDest 
anxiety for help, and when he is just on the brink of des- 
pair, he sees the Saviour hanging on the cross, with this in, 
scription, " Jesus of Nazareth, the King of the Jews," and 
asks, what means this sight ? Who is this that is so cruelly 
treated and what was His crime? And he is told that for 
love of him the Saviour died to pay his debt, to rescue him 
from the prison of hell, to win heaven for him and the right 
of citizenship there, and the adoption into the family of 
God, and that all this is offered to him freely, " without 
money and without price," and that all he has to do, all he 
can do, is to put in his claim in due time, before it becomes 
outlawed by being too long deferred. Then how does his 
heart leap within him for joy and gratitude, while he takes 
up the virgin's song and says, " My soul doth magnify the 
Lord, and my spirit hath rejoiced in God my Saviour. For 
He hath regarded the low estate of His servant." With 
David, he sings, " Return unto thy rest, O my soul ; for the 
Lord hath dealt bountifully with thee." " O Lord, truly I 
am Thy servant ; I am Thy servant and the son of Thy 
handmaid ; Thou hast loosed my bonds." 

Such might be the experience of you all, my yet uncon- 
verted friends, if you were but ready this moment to believe 
the great love w^hich God has had towards you. 

The great obstacle that prevents many who have a desire 
to be saved, and who feel that they are sinners, from enjoy- 
ing the sense of pardoned sins and saving grace, is that they 
think they are not fit to receive the blessing; that some- 
thing must first take place in theii* souls before they can 
have a right to believe. But this is just their mistake, and 



154 THE GREAT LOYE OF GOD. 

one that must prove ruinous if persevered in. " Only be- 
lieve," says Christ, "all things are possible to him that be- 
lieveth." " To them that received Him," says St. John, 
" gave He power (or the privilege) to become the sons of 
God, even to them that believe on His name." It is by re- 
ceiving Christ, as He is offered to you in the gospel, that 
you are to become new creatures, "born not of flesh, nor 
of the will of man, but of God." " The gospel," as St. Paul 
assures us, " is the power of God unto salvation, to every 
one that believeth." 

You are to believe not so much what God will do for you 
as what He has already done. Receive but this into your 
soul, and let it produce its natural effect and you will soon 
feel love to the Saviour kindling in your heart, and the 
more this fire burns, the more will sin become hateful to 
you and the Saviour precious; and all the more precious 
because He has effected for all that will come to Him a full 
and final deliverance from sin and its consequences. 

True, so long as you are yet in love with sin and are not 
willing to part with it, Christ Jesus can have no attractions 
for you. His office, from which He derived His name, is to 
" deliver His people from their sins ;" not i?i their sins. To 
see the preciousness of Christ, therefore, it is necessary, 
that you be convinced of your sinfulness, your utter de- 
pravity, and inability to help yourselves. And this convic- 
tion you can obtain in no way sooner, than by faithfully 
comparing your past lives with the requirements of the 
word of God. And to make this matter simple to you, you 
have but to look at the example of the Saviour Himself, 
w^ho is our great pattei'n and guide. Or you may look at 
that exposition which He has given us of the divine law, 
contained in the fifth, sixth, and seventh chajDters of Mat- 
thew, in w^hat is called the Sermon on the Mount. And re- 



THE GREAT LOYE OF GOD. 155 

member while comparing your lives with this standard, that 
by it you are to be tried on the great day ; and according 
to your conformity or disagreement, your final condition 
will be decided. And if you have not a clear evidence of 
your acceptance with God, let me admonish you, my dear 
friends, to enter upon such an examination without delay. 

If you have any thought of ever being saved, of turning 
to the Lord and seeking his favor ; if you have yet the 
slightest respect for your Maker and his commands, then 
set about this work at once. Surely it is of the utmost im- 
portance that you should know how you stand towards Him 
in whose hands is your breath ; by whose power you are 
sustained every moment, and from whom you are to re- 
ceive your final doom. 

To say that you will not take even so much pains to as- 
certain your actual condition, when the Lord solemnly calls 
upon you to consider your ways, to amend your lives, to re- 
pent and return to your allegiance ; is it not to cast away 
His mercy with contempt ? Is it not to provoke the 
Holy One to the contest ? And how do you expect 
such a contest to end ? Was Pharaoh successful in his 
resistance ? And do you expect that it will go better with 
you? 

Do you ask, what is the reason that so many refuse to 
come to Christ that they might be saved ? The Bible in- 
forms us plainly to what it is owing. Thus St. Paul writes 
to the Corinthians : " If after all, our gospel be hid, it is hid 
to them that are lost: in whom the god of this world hath 
blinded the eyes of them which believe not, lest the light 
of the glorious gospel of Christ, w^ho is the image of God, 
should shine unto them." They are such as seek all their 
ha]Dpiness in this world, its pleasures and honors; that have 
given themselves up as willing subjects to the god of this 



156 THE GEEAT LOTE OF GOD. 

world, who presents to their enchanted vision, as he did to 
the Saviour Himself, " the kingdoms of this world and the 
glory of them;" and if they suffer themselves to be en- 
snared by the delusive promises held out to them, they are 
lost, unless God in mercy interfere, by making their " riches 
take to themselves wings and to fly away ;" or by throwing 
them on a bed of sickness ; or sending them one or the 
other trouble, to poison their enjoyments, and make them 
sensible of the fleeting nature, and intrinsic worthlessness 
of all earthly ^possessions. Were it not for the sorrows 
mingled in our cup of earthly happiness, how few, if any, 
would ever in earnest set out to seek the Lord ! 

Hence also it is, that if the young, who are yet in a great 
measure free from the cares of life, and, a few of them at 
least, uncorrupted by its sinful pleasures, if at this favorable 
season, their attention can be drawn to the subject of their 
soul's salvation, it is comparatively an easy matter to bring 
them over to the side of j^iety and Chiist. Besides their 
feelings are naturally more tender and more easily wrought 
upon, and it is to be expected that the story of the Saviour's 
love will produce an impression. 

While on the other hand, if the young are already so iar 
gone in sin, that they can make sport with holy things, there 
is great danger that they will grow more hardened with in- 
creasing years, till having filled up the measure of their in- 
iquities, they are suddenly, perhaps, called to render up 
their account. And in our day of i^recocity in understand- 
ing and in vice, I fear there are cases, not a few, of those 
whose fate is sealed long before they have attained to their 
legal majority. And unless Christians make a strong and 
united effort to check the growing wickedness of the world 
we have reason to look for more tremendous judgments 
than those under which so large a part of the Protestant 



THE GREAT LOVE OF GOD. 157 

world is still smarting. For it must not be forgotten, that 
while God will do all that it would be impossible for man to 
do, He has always employed means, and these means are 
committed to His church, and in a measure, placed at her 
disposal. When Zion travails, she brings forth children, 
but not else. When Christians are waked up to a sense of 
their responsibility, we may look for a season of refreshing 
from the Lord. 

This thought, that the salvation of sinners around us, is 
to a great degree, put in our hands, should startle profess- 
ors of rehgion. A dead church will be a source of death 
and ruin to the world around, and each individual member 
should feel that a portion of the responsibility — how much 
is known only to God — rests upon him. And could the 
church be properly awakened to this subject, what godly 
sorrow would be excited, what carefulness, what clearing 
of yourselves, what indignation, what vehement desire, what 
zeal, what revenge would be witnessed. What impression 
can be expected to be made upon the unconverted, when 
those who profess to have tried the gospel, live as if it had 
neither savor nor virtue ? 

But notwithstanding this, let me assure you, ye uncon- 
verted, that if you perish, your destruction will be of your- 
selves. That professing Christians fail in their duty, (while 
it w^ll deprive them of their reward,) will in no case excuse 
you from doing yours. The way is plain and simple. You 
have heard of the love of God, that while we were yet sin- 
ners and enemies, Christ died for us. The question is, do 
you, will you love Hi/n in return ? 

Consider for a moment how great was the condescension 
of the Lord in thus visiting our world on an errand of 
mercy. He came not with threats of wrath, ready to strike 
down the first rebel that dared to refuse to come back and 



158 THE GREAT LOVE OF GOD. 

on his knees acknowledge his guilt. He came to make such 
a display of love and grace, as might, if any thing could, 
win the affections of His revolted subjects. He took upon 
Himself the debt they had incurred to divine justice, suf- 
fered the penalty of the holy law which they had broken, 
and wrought out a full and free salvation, w^hich is to be 
offered to every soul. " Go ye into all the world," was the 
Saviour's charge, is the commission under which we address 
you — " and preach the gospel to every creature." 

But what is the gospel? Gospel means "good news;" 
as said the angel to the shepherds on the plains of Beth- 
lehem : " Behold I bring you good tidings of great joy, 
which shall be to all people." 

It is good news indeed, for it sets before us the new cov- 
enant in which God has promised to take away the stony 
heart out of our flesh and to give us a heart of flesh. " After 
those days, saith the Lord, I w^ill put my laws into their 
mind, and write them in their hearts : and I will be to them 
a God and they shall be to me a people. For I will be mer- 
ciful to their unrighteousness, and their sins and their in- 
iquities will I remember no more." And this promise is for 
all. Who ever will, may lay hold on the same and enter 
into covenant with his Maker and Lord. 

Do you say, you have no heart to it ? This is promised 
you. It is God who must work in you, both to will and to 
do, of His good pleasure, of His free grace. Do you fear 
that you could never hold out if you were to attempt to 
serve God ? His grace, He says, is sufiicient. His strength 
is made perfect in our weakness. " In the Lord," shall one 
say, " have I righteousness and strength." And it shall be 
said in that day, " Lo, this is our God, we have waited for 
Him ; and He will save us : this is the Lord, we have 
waited for Him, we will be glad and rejoice in His salva- 



THE GEEAT LOYE OF GOD. 159 

tion." All that is required of you is faith ; firm confidence 
in the mercy, the truth and the power of God ; that He will 
assuredly perform all that He has promised ; that sooner 
shall heaven and earth pass away, than that one word or 
tittle should fail of all the good that He has said that He 
would do unto us. 

And these promises are meant for all that hear them, as 
Peter said in his memorable sermon on the day of Pente- 
cost. "For," says he, "the promise is unto you, and to 
your children ; and to all that are afar off, even as many as 
the Lord our God shall call." Consider, therefore, I say, 
how great was the love which God has shown you. Xot 
only did He send His Son to die for you, w'hen you were 
not yet born, so that you might come to Him and enjoy 
His favor — He caused His gospel to be preached and His 
church to be established, and has sent to you the message 
of His grace, assuring you of His readiness to receive all 
that come, you among the rest, if you will but come. 

And now, what answer do you send Him? For be as- 
sured you are this very moment saying, either "yes" or 
"no." You need not utter the word with your lips, God 
sees the heart. The Saviour is even, now waiting to hear 
what reply you will make to His gracious offers. Does your 
heart say, " Lord, it is enough. I have resisted Thy grace 
too long. Xow I yield a captive to love." Or do you 
madly put from you the offered mercy ; saying like those 
unworthy guests who sent word, "I pray thee have me ex- 
cused ;" " I am at present too much engaged to attend to 
Thy invitation." Is it that you expect to receive another 
offer? Do you not hear Him say, " Xone of those men 
that were bidden, shall taste of my supper ?" 

But think, I pray you, a lit^e longer upon the subject. 
Cast n(^t away an eternal inheritance from mere thought- 



160 THE GEEAT LOYE OF GOD. 

lessness. If it were an estate on earth; an income ot 
thousands or hundreds of thousands, and you should say, I 
do not want it ; the trouble of taking care of such a prop- 
erty is more than I wish to undergo, this, though men 
would consider it folly, would be but a trifling matter, and 
might be the dictate of jDrudence in one that had enough 
to live, even as regards the present life, for it is yet to be 
shown that an increase of wealth is always, or ever, accom- 
panied by an increase of happiness and true enjoyment. 
But to throw away a heavenly inheritance, to give up all 
claim to the favor of heaven's king is quite a difierent af- 
fair. Xone but one that is actually infatuated with sin and 
given over to a reprobate mind, can calmly and deliberately 
reject the offered grace. 

But that you neglect this grace and do not at once fell 
in with the overture of mercy is scarcely less criminal, 
and must in the end be as fatal as a positive rejection of 
mercy. Do you suppose that the Lord will force His favors 
upon you, when you have treated His offers with contempt, 
such as you would not manifest towards a fellow creature 
for whom you had the least respect. 

Consider, therefore, before you come to a final decision 
on so momentous a subject as that of your future and eter- 
nal happiness or misery. Consider how much God has 
loved you ; what He has done to make salvation possible 
for you; how ready He is to receive you, if you will but 
come. Though you know not how to come to Him in a 
proper manner, only come the best way you can. Call upon 
the name of the Lord. Plead the merits of the Saviour. 
Cast yourself on the grace and compassion of the Redeemer, 
who has never yet sent any empty away that have come 
to Him in sincerity with their cares and sorrows. Go on 



THE GREAT LOVE OF GOP. 161 

your knees before Hira. He is everywhere present ; He 
sees you and knows your thoughts. 

Nay, if there is any holy desire excited in your heart, it 
is His Spirit that -has excited it. If your conscience is not 
entirely seared and past feeling, it is because the Holy 
Spirit has not yet taken His flight. Improve the precious 
opportunity while it lasts. Lose no time. It may never 
return. Throughout eternity you may have to lament that 
you did not improve this call, which — solemn thought — 
may be the last. 

Now while your heart is tender, while divine truth makes 
an impression, seize the advantage afforded you. Soon, if 
you neglect it, the enemy who is constantly going about 
seeking whom he may destroy, will efface every serious im- 
pression, snatch away every particle of the good seed of 
the w^ord that had been sown in your heart, and claim you 
as his prey. If nothing else can move you, let the love of 
God do it ; who " commend eth His love toward us, in that 
while we were yet sinners Christ died for us." 

That you are a sinner your own conscience and your 
dread of dying will tell you. That Christ Jesus has paid 
your debt you are told on the authority of your Maker. 
If the Bible is true you have been redeemed by the blood 
of the Son of God ; and you can share in the salvation He 
has so dearly purchased, if you wdll. But when such a 
price has been paid for your deliverance from everlasting 
woe, and you are told on what terms you may share in the 
blessing, even by faith in Christ, and giving yourself to Him 
by an evei'lasting covenant, can you yet hope to be saved 
in any other way ? Will there be any room for escape, if 
you neglect this great salvation ? Or do you expect that 
to meet your caprice, God will alter His method of saving 
men ? If any one should teach that God would save every 



162 THE GREAT LOVE OP GOB. 

one just in the way that suited his whim or convenience, 
could YOU possibly believe that it was God's trath that he 
taught. Are you not fully convinced in your own mind 
that the way pointed out in the gospel, that of an immedi- 
ate and unreserved surrender, and simple trust in the mer- 
itorious work of the Lord Jesus Christ, is the only way in 
which sinners can be reconciled unto God ; that to ask less 
than such an unconditional submission would be unworthy 
of the Holy One, and could not command the belief of any 
rational mind ? 

While, on the other hand^ the dedaration of the infinite 
love of God and the proof He has given of this love, are 
just such as might be expected from a Being of infinite 
ji^urity and infinite benevolence. For nothing short of this 
could have made any effectual impresdon upon the human 
mind. 

That all are not at once gained over to the cause of 
Christ and godhness on hearing or reading the account of 
His sufferings, what does it prove but the awful hardness 
of the human heart, that any one can listen to the story 
unmoved and learn that it was for him He died, without at 
once yielding himself a willing subject of divine grace. 
And yet such was the love of God towards our race that 
'* while ^ve were enemies we were reconciled to God by the 
death of His son ; " " God was in Christ recondling the 
world unto Himself not imputing their trespasses unto 
them." Yes, you too have been bought at a price b^ond 
all price. You, hardened sinner, scoffer at religion, even 
you cannot peiish but by wading through the blood of 
Him that died to save you. 

But you still say that your heart is so hard that nothing 
\^ill move it. Well, then, go with that same hard heart to 
the Saviour. TeU Him your difficulty. Call npon Him 



THE 3JREAT LOVE OF GOD. 163 

for help. Be in earnest. Be importunate. In due time 
you shall be heard. Meanwhile claim His gracious prom- 
ise : " Him that cometh unto me I will in no wise cast out." 
Tell Him how you have come as well as you knew how ; 
that you do not know what more to do ; that you trust 
yourself entirely to His skill and care. 

Come, like a beggar that will not be denied. Plead with 
Him that when He has done so much for you, He would 
not deny you what is needed to put you in possession of 
the gift. Tell Him of all that He has done for others, who 
were not more needy or more wretched than you. And if 
He seem not to regard you, give not over to cry, like blind 
Bartimeus, till you hear Him say, " What wilt thou that I 
shall do to thee." Then come boldly. Put yourself under 
His care, and soon all will be well. 

Again, tell me, sinner, could God have shown greater 
love for you than He has shown ? If He had given you a 
blank promise to put down what you pleased, to ask just 
what you chose as the pledge of His kind purposes. His 
willingness to save. His compassion and love, what could 
you have imagined, what could you have asked greater 
than what He has given ? 

Nay, would you have dared to ask for anything like 
what He has freely done ? Would it not have seemed the 
height of presumption to have even thought of making 
such a demand ? And now, when without your asking He 
has of His own free will and motion, given you the very 
greatest pledge of His love ; are you not yet satisfied, or 
can you, dare you, reject the offer of reconciliation, when 
it has been effected at such a price ? Or can you expect 
too much from the mercy and grace of Him that has loved 
us so much that " He spared not His own Son, but delivered 
Him up for us all ? " Need you fear a repulse when He 



164 THE GHEAT LOVE OF GOD. 

invites you on the strength of what He has already done, 
to trust Him for what is yet wanting to complete your sal- 
vation ? 

Thus you see that all that is necessary to put yon in pos- 
session of the blessinsr is that vou should consent to be 
blessed in God's own way, and on His own terms. 

And these terms are that you believe the testimony that 
God has given of His Son ; that yon pnt not from yon 
that eternal life which is ireely offered to you ; that yon 
love Him again who has first loved you. It was to gain 
the affection of human hearts, yours and mine, my fiiands, 
which had been alienated by sin, that God made so great a 
sacrifice as that of His only begotten and well-beloved Son. 

And if you will let this thought dwell in yoor minds, if 
you will cherish it, and follow it up, you will experience its 
healing, saving virtue. So soon as yon realize what the Sa- 
\dour has done for you ; how He has loved yen with a love 
stronger than death, you wiU^ you must love Him again. 
It is not in human nature not to love such as love us, if we 
are once fairly convinced of the fact. Only believe the 
love which God has had for you and you too will love Hini 
again. 

And then His service will cease to seem hard. Yon wiH 
be anxious to prove the sincerity of your love and gradtnde 
by the seiwice that you will perform for Him. Yon will 
long for an opportunity to do something to promote His 
cause and honor among men. Yon will wish to tell to all 
about, what a Saviour you have found, saying with David, 
" Come aU ye that fear God, I will tell you what He hath 
done for my soul." 

Xow to experience all this and more than tongne can tell 
or language express, you need not wait till to-morrow, nor 
till another hour, but now, just now, it is all ready for you. 



THE GREAT LOVE OF GOD. 165 

the moment that you believe. Yea, if you truly believed 
what we have told you in the name of the Lord and by His 
authority, you would already be enjoying the blessing in 
your heart. Oh ! then, be persuaded all ye loiterers in the 
market-place. Come to Christ without delay. '^ Taste and 
see that the Lord is gracious; blessed is everyone that 
trusteth in Him." " Blessed is the man unto whom the 
Lord imputeth not iniquity, and in whose spirit there is no 
guile." " ISTow," says the apostle, "to him that worketh 
not," that is, does not seek to be justified by any good works 
of his own, "but believeth on Him that justifieth the un- 
godly, his faith is counted for righteousness." 

The more sinful you feel yourself to be, if you only trust 
in the merits of Christ for acceptance, and thus approach 
the throne of grace, the sooner will the burden of guilt fall 
off your neck, you will feel yourself pardoned, accepted, 
adopted into the family of your heavenly Father, owned as 
a child and treated as such. 

Do you not sometimes envy the condition of such as can 
approach into the divine presence with all the confidence of 
children, and pour out all their griefs and sorrows into the 
loving bosom of their High Priest and Saviour. Well, you 
may do the same if you are but willing. Such as you are, 
they all once were. It was by faith, by believing the graci- 
ous purposes that God has over us, that they passed from 
death unto life. And so may you, for there is no difference ; 
God is no respecter of persons. If you believe you shall 
likewise be saved. Why, then, will ye die ? 



SERMON X. 

FREEKESS AXD LARGENESS OF THE GOSPEL OFFER. 

''Incline your ear and come unto me; hear and your soul shall live: and 
I will make an everlasting covenant with you, even the sure mercies of 
David." — Isaiah, Iv. 3. 

Nothing would be more astonishing, were it not so com- 
mon, than the indifference men manifest for divine things. 
Every thing else will draw their attention more readily. 
The smallest pleasm-e or advantage of an earthly nature 
excites a deeper interest than the inquiry, what is to be 
their condition in eternity ? Some will question the author- 
ity of the minister of the gospel to admonish or instruct 
them. Some go so far as to pretend to doubt the inspir- 
ation of the Holy Scriptures, and their claims to be consid- 
ered as the word of God. 

Now, if such persons felt the importance of the subject as 
they ought, they would not attend to any thing else till they 
had thoroughly investigated this matter, and a candid and 
patient investigation, would undoubtedly, as experience 
proves, end in a full conviction of the divine origin and 
authority of the Bible, and this admitted, the overwhelming 
character of our eternal interests would be established past 
all controversy. But the majority do not profess to doubt 
the claims of the Bible as being the word of God, and that 
it is able to make us wise unto salvation, and yet with a 
strange inconsistency, pay no more attention to its instruc- 
tions than if it had been proved to be a fiction. 



OF THE GOSPEL OFFEE. 167 

Others pretend great deference to its authority, but re- 
ject some of its fundamental i^rinciples. The whole scheme 
of religion as revealed in the sacred Scriptures goes on the 
assumption that God as Creator and Sovereign, is the Su- 
preme Judge of all His rational subjects ; that He claims 
their implicit obedience, and vrill assuredly punish all ob- 
stinate transgressors of His holy laws. " He that cometh 
unto God," that is, he that would pay Him an acceptable 
worship, " must believe that He is, and that He is the re- 
warder of them that diligently seek Him," and consequently 
will punish such as do not. " Then shall ye return and dis- 
cern between the righteous and the wicked; between him 
that serveth God and him that serveth Him not." 

This distinction is as unalterable as the pillars of heaven. 
Without it there would be no moral government of the 
world, and it would matter little whether we believed in 
the existence of God or not. But the Scriptures distinctly 
assure us in w^ords of serious import that ^' the wrath of 
God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and 
unrighteousness of men, who hold the truth in unrighteous- 
ness." 

Without this truth the Bible would lose all its significance. 
The assurance that a Saviour has been provided for man- 
kind would be of no use, for there would be nothing to be 
saved from. The whole system of means and miracles, of 
prophecy, and of instruction of which the Bible gives an 
account, as carried on through forty centuries, till it was 
brought to its perfection by the advent of the Saviour, 
would amount to just nothing at all. The firm belief of 
thousands of thousands of the wisest and best men that have 
ever lived, for which they were ready to shed their blood, 
as many actually have done, was all a delusion. 

Such would be the inference if we should deny that fun- 



168 FKEEXESS AXD LARGENESS 

damental doctrine of the Word of God, that there is com- 
ing a day of judgment, " when the Lord Jesus shall be re° 
yealed from heaven with His mighty angels, in flaming fire, 
taking vengeance on them that know not God, and that 
obey not the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ." He that 
doubts or denies this truth may as well be an infidel at once, 
for all the good that his knowledge of the Scriptures will 
do him. He would, at least, act more consistently in that 
character. 

The thorough conviction, and painful sense of our ruined 
condition by nature, as sinners, as violators of the divine 
law, must in every case precede all true repentance, and sin- 
cere conversion. How shall they seek deliverance, who are 
not conscious that they are lost ? How shall they be led to 
fl.ee from the wrath to come, who do not believe that there 
is any wrath impending ? 

Yet God has not left us in ignorance on this all-important 
subject. The sense of bodily pain is not a more certain in- 
dication of some injury having been received by our mortal 
frame, tban mental uneasinesss is the symptom of spiritual 
disorder. Xo one can violate the known will of God with- 
out some com^Dunctions of conscience. Xor can any one 
living in habitual disobedience to the divine law, look for- 
ward with composure to the future. Conscience will at 
times sting the most heedless. The fear of a coming day 
of judgment and retribution, will sometimes haunt the most 
hardened. AH, in short, who do not feel perfectly happy — 
and who is there that does? — have a strong inducement to 
seek the salvation of God. 

But alas I they will not attend to the gracious warnings 
of a faithful Creator. They will rather listen to the seduc- 
tions of the father of lies who seeks to lead them on to their 
ruin, that they may share in his torment. 



OF THE GOSPEL OFFER. 169 

Still the voice of mercy and wisdom cries to the children 
of men : " Ho ! every one that thirst eth come ye to the 
waters, and he that hath no money ; come ye, buy and eat, 
yea, come buy wine and milk without money and without 
price." The only ground on Avhich any one will ever be re- 
jected, is, if he comes bringing a price in his hand, and will 
not receive, as a gratuitous gift, the blessings provided by 
the King of kings. Whoever feels himself poor and 
wretched, and is content to come as a beggar to the gate of 
heaven shall be admitted at his earnest entreaty. Whoever 
feels that sin is a burden, that must yet crush him, if he is 
not delivered from it, need but look up to Jesus, crucified 
for sin, in oi'der to find his burden removed, his soul set at 
liberty, and his spiritual health restored. 

This is the subject of the text w^hich we have chosen for 
our meditation to-day, from which we shall take occasion to 
dwell on the 

FrEEXESS and LARGENESS OF THE GOSPEL OFFER. 

" Incline your ear," says Jehovah by His prophet, " and 
come unto me ; hear and your soul shall live, and I will 
make an everlasting covenant with you, even the sure mer- 
cies of David." 

May the good Spirit of God open your ears to listen to 
His kind invitation, and make it effectual for the salvation 
of all. 

We shall consider : 

Flrst^ the import of the promise: what it includes. 

Second^ the condition, that is, the means by which we 
may secure the promised blessings to ourselves. 

Firsts What is the import of the promise, what does it 
include ? "I will make an everlasting covenant with you, 
even the sure mercies of David." 

God has been pleased, in condescension to human modes 

8 



170 FEEENESS AND LAEGENESS 

of speech and thinking, to represent the blessings which He 
bestows on those that seek His favor, under the figure of 
a covenant. 

A covenant is a formal agreement between two parties, 
by which they solemnly pledge themselves to the perform- 
ance of certain conditions. In human transactions, there is 
usually, if not always, a mutual equivalent given. This, of 
course, is out of the question in all transactions between 
God and His creatures. For they have nothing to give but 
what they have received from Him. The very power to 
act, to hsten, to love, is from God. In the covenant which 
He makes, the benefit is all on our side, the honor is His. 
And this is what He claims. He bestows upon us all the 
treasures of His grace, the riches of heaven, and what He 
requires on our part is that we give Him all the glory, that 
we feel and manifest the obligation under which He has laid 
us, by loving, serving, and obeying Him, and ascribing all 
the glory of our salvation to His name. On these easy 
terms shall we share in the blessings of His children. 

That He calls it a covenant, implies the absolute certainty 
of the promise as being confirmed with all the solemnity of 
an oath ; that " by tw^o immutable things " as the apostle 
speaks, " in which it was impossible for God to lie," viz., the 
promise itself, w^hich was altogether gratuitous on the part 
of God, not called for by any merit or claim on the part of 
the creature, and the oath, " we might have strong consola- 
tion who have fled for refuge to lay hold on the hope set 
before us," the blessing proposed for our acceptance. For as 
he had said before, '' Men verily swear by the greater, and an 
oath for confirmation is to them an end of all strife. Where- 
in God, willing more abundantly to show unto the heirs of 
promise the immutability of His counsel, confirmed it by an 
oath." 



OF THE GOSPEL OFFEE. 171 

This is what in our text is signified by establishing an 
everlasting covenant — giving us the sure mercies of David. 
The promise that had been given to Abraham and his pos- 
terity, and which had been confirmed both by a former cov- 
enant, and by a solemn oath, was renewed in still more 
clear and express terms to David as the type and ancestor 
of the Messiah. It included the assurance that in due time 
one of his descendants should sit on his throne and rale the 
people of God, and that of his kingdom there should be no 
end. That to Him all nations should yet become subject, 
and all kings do Him homage. That He should reign in 
righteousness, and pronounce judgment in behalf of the 
poor. That He should deliver all the oppressed that cried 
to Him and establish righteousness and truth on the earth. 
This is the covenant spoken of in our text, and in this all 
that will are invited to share. 

The covenant made with Abraham had a twofold bearing; 
one referred to the natural descendants of the jDatriarch, the 
Israelites after the flesh, as a people. This ^Dart was fulfilled 
in David, under whom they were victorious over all their 
enemies, and occupied the whole territory assigned to them. 

The other and better part of the covenant had reference 
to the spiritual seed of Abraham, who is the father of all 
that believe, whether Jews or Gentiles. This was accom- 
plished in Christ Jesus, the true David, the s|)iritual King 
of Israel, to whom the utmost parts of the earth are prom- 
ised for His inheritance. In this covenant Abraham and 
David, as individuals have a share. But not only they, and 
other favored servants of God, by whom He revealed por- 
tions of His will, but all that lay hold on the promise, and 
beUeve on the Lord Jesus Christ, through whom alone, 
Abraham and David shared in the blessings of the covenant. 

The former covenant, with Israel as a nation, was form- 



172 FEEENESS AND LARGENESS 

ally confirmed when the law was given from Mount Sinai. 
It was intended for a temporary purpose, till Christ should 
come. It is styled by St. Paul the old covenant, to be 
superseded by the new and better covenant, founded upon 
better jDromises, and haying a better priest than any of the 
Aaronical family. The former was adapted to the present 
scene, and gave promise of temporal and national prosper- 
ity. The New Covenant has a primary respect to spiritual 
and eternal things, and conveys blessings as far superior to 
those, as heaven is higher than earth. Finding fault with 
them He saith, " Behold the days come, saith the Lord, that 
I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and 
with the house of Judah. Not according to the covenant 
that I made with their fathers in the day when I took them 
by the hand to lead them out of the land of Egypt." 

In this covenant God promises to be their God, and that 
they shall be His people. This includes every thing neces- 
sary for the restoration of man to his original perfection ; 
all that is required to ensure his everlasting welfare. It is 
the last and most perfect dispensation of divine grace. Upon 
it the wealth of Deity has been expended. It contains in- 
exhaustible treasures of grace and love. It is a subject upon 
which the heart of God has been set from eternity. It af- 
fords the fullest, clearest, and most remarkable display of 
the Infinite perfections of the Triune Jehovah which the 
world has witnessed or ever shall. It is the triumph of love 
exhibiting the union of mercy with justice; of a holiness 
that admits not of a stain, joined to goodness that exceeds 
comprehension. 

And the subjects of this covenant, for whose benefit it is 
intended, are the poor outcasts of earth ; the puny rebels of 
the human family, whom God could have crushed in a mo- 
ment, but whom He was pleased to reconcile by the most 



OF THE GOSPEL OFFER. 173 

stupendous efforts of divine love. For the purpose of es- 
tablishing this covenant, the Son of God had to quit the 
bosom of the Father, to leave for a season the glory which 
He had with Him before the world was, and to submit to 
the lowest degradation that earth could impose. The sac- 
rifice by which the covenant was confirmed was no less than 
the Son of God Himself, in the human nature which He 
assumed for this very purpose. His blood is the seal ; His 
death was the price ; His resurrection was the confirmation 
of the covenant. 

On the part of God all things are ready. Every thing 
has been done to reconcile a revolted world. All that is re- 
quired in order to our sharing in the benefit, is that we put 
our name to the covenant; that we take its obligations 
upon us; that we suffer ourselves to be made holy and 
happy — for without being holy it is impossible we shonld 
ever be happy — not by our exertions, but by the powerful 
influences of the Holy Spirit, working effectually in them 
that believe. 

Ample provision is made for the necessities of the case. 
And these were such as might well appear insuperable by 
any but an Almighty Saviour. And such we have : one 
that is able to save to the uttermost all that come unto God 
through Him. Could men but be pursuaded to come unto 
Him, with all their sins, and all their infirmities, and all theii' 
sorrows, soon would they experience the efficacy of His 
grace, the virtue of His name. 

Let us consider some of the difficulties that had to be 
overcome to render it possible for God to be our God and 
us to be His people. 

In the first place, on account of his rebellion against his 
Maker and Sovereign, man was an outlaw, under sentence 
of condemnation. The law of God says, " The soul that sin- 



174 FEEEXES5 AXD LAEGEXESS 

neth shall die." It could not say otherwise consistently 
with the perfection of the divine government. One trans- 
gression connived at would open a door for more. The 
angels that fell had tried the dreadful issue and brought 
upon themselves swift condemnation, being reserved in ever- 
lasting chains under darkness unto the judgment of the 
great day. When man sinned, therefore, impartial justice 
required that he should receive the due reward of his deeds. 
Bat God had determined to make a display of mercy in his 
behalf. How could this be accomphshed without infringing 
upon the demands of justice ? 

This was the great problem, which nothing but infinite 
wisdom joined to infinite love could solve. Goodness alone 
could not do it. For goodness reaches no further than to 
impart benefits ; but love imparts itself. The eternal Son, 
the second person of the adorable Trinity offers, in perfect 
unison with the Father's desire, to become the substitute 
of guilty man, in suffering the punishment due to his sin ; 
and his surety for the fulfillment of the law. His mediation 
is accej)ted. The Father says of the ruined rebel, " Spare 
him, I have found a ransom." This purpose, formed in the 
divine mind from eternity, was executed when the Son of 
God took on Him human nature, and after a life of labor 
and sorrow, suftered Himself to be seized by wicked hands 
and nailed to the accursed tree, as the atoning sacrifice for 
human guilt. See here the power of love ! When the very 
creatures for whose salvation He had come, manifested their 
hatred to Him and His righteous cause by inflicting upon 
Him the most ignominious treatment, spitting upon Him, 
striking Him on the face, mocking His torments — did He 
vent curses upon them for their unmitigated cruelty ? Did 
He except these wretches from the general amnesty ? No ! 
He made them the subjects of His last prayer to the Father, 



OF THE GOSPEL OFFER. 175 

" Father forgive them, for tjiey know not what they do." 
By the virtue of such love was human guilt canceled. These 
suflerings of the Holy One more than made amends for all 
the wickedness committed by the millions of our race from 
the beginning of time. After this voluntary sacrifice ren- 
dered to the law, God could be just in justifying the most 
guilty of those for whom Christ died. 

But it is to be observed that it was only because, and in 
so flxr as they acted from ignorance that they could be for- 
given. Such was also the principle that governed in the 
old covenant or Mosaic law. The soul that sinned from 
ignorance might bring an offering for his sin, but he that 
sinned willfully and presumptuously was to be put to death 
without mercy. This affords no encouragement, therefore, 
for such as continue in sin that grace may abound. It shows 
the danger of trifling with the gospel message; of tamper- 
ing with duty and putting off repentance to a future day. 
Deliberately to put aside the gracious offers of mercy, is 
like a man who had fallen into a pit, cutting the rope by 
which he was to be drawn up. 

But whether men will embrace the proffered amnesty or 
not, provision is made, full and sufficient, for the salvation 
of the whole world. This, the first obstacle in the way of 
a reconciliation, has been effectually removed. 

A second, perhaps still greater obstacle, was the actual 
condition of man in consequence of the hardening effects of 
sin. By nature we are alienated from God in our affections, 
afraid of Him as a Judge, and averse to His service and laws. 
Having forsaken God, our affections, which must perforce 
have some object, have become fixed on self and the world. 
All our thoughts and projects, our exertions amd desires 
center there. The heart, far from being in a neutral state, 
is preoccupied by a variety of attachments, all tending to 



1Y6 JEEEXESS AXD LABGE^-ESS 

increase its distance from God. To overcome this ruinous 
tendency, our gracious Maker employs various means. But 
the great and most effectual attraction is the love of Christ, 
so signally displayed in the excruciating pains that He en- 
dured for us. This presents a motive, of force to melt the 
hardest heart. And we venture to say, there is not that 
human being to be found, who is fully persuaded that it was 
far his sake that the Saviour suffered and died, that can help 
loving Him. 

While men are not sensible of their lost condition, it is 
impossible they should believe it ; for why should Christ 
die for those who were not on the brink of endless ruin ? 
And when theii' eyes are opened to see their true condition 
it is often difficult to persuade them that the Saviom* has 
indeed atoned for all their guilt, to the full. 

Bat no sooner does the soul, broken down by a sense of 
its ill desert and its liability to the dreadful penalty of the 
divine law, admit the glad news that for it too the Saviour 
suffered, for it He groaned, and bled, and died, and rose 
again, than joy, and peace, and comfort take possession, while 
fear, and guilt, and aversion from God are driven out. Des- 
pair gives place to hope. The night of sorrow is suddenly 
turned into day. Rejoicing has taken the place of mourning. 

The sun of righteousness has arisen upon that soul with 
healing in His wings. True, the sun may rise under a 
cloud, and its place may not be distinguishable. It may 
continue under a cloud, perchance, through the whole day 
of life, and even set as it rose — hut still the state of that 
man is as different fi'om what it onee was, while the night 
of sin and alienation from God continued, as is the differ- 
ence bet#een a cloudy day and the clearest night in nature. 

But another obstacle was to be removed. Man, though 



OF THE GOSPEL OFFER. 177 

reconciled, is still an unholy being, and unfit to dwell in the 
presence of God. 

For this also the covenant of grace contains abundant 
provision. The Saviour, it was foretold by His forerunner, 
should baptize His people with the Holy Ghost. Pie is the 
Sanctifier of all that believe. His gracious and purifying 
influences accompany the word where it is faithfully preach- 
ed and obediently received. He is sent to be the teacher 
of Christ's disciples. His indwelling in the heart is the 
seal of believers, the earnest and pledge of their future in- 
heritance in glory. " If the spirit of Him that raised up 
Jesus from the dead dwell in you, He that raised up Christ 
from the dead shall also quicken your mortal bodies by His 
spirit that dwelleth in you." The work of sanctification is 
a gradual work, going on continually unto perfection, in 
those who are led by the Spirit of God. 

And He is also the spirit of wisdom and strength, and of 
a sound mind, m all that yield to His gentle draw^ings. 
He enables them to live by faith, to overcome temptation, 
to fight a good fight. They learn to say with Paul, " I can 
do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me." He 
works mightily in them that believe. His power is dis- 
played in the midst of their weakness. He enables them 
to comprehend the completeness of the covenant, the suffi- 
ciency of its provisions, its adaptedness to their various 
wants. 

He explains to their understandings the deep things of 
God, the mysteries of redemption. He teaches them to 
pray. And by prayer^ — fervent, effectual prayer — they can 
accomplish great things. For sooner could an affectionate 
parent deny his beloved child something that it earnestly 
entreated for and that w^as really useful to it, than that our 
heavenly Father should refuse any needed blessing to His 

8^ 



178 FEEENESS AND LARGENESS 

children when they cry day and night unto Him, though 
He bear long with them, and seems not to give heed to 
their prayers. " For the Lord is not slack concerning His 
promise," though men often consider it so, *' but is long suf- 
fering to US-ward, not willing that any sljould perish, but 
that all should come to repentance." Besides it is neces- 
sary for the testing of our faith that we should not always 
receive an answer immediately. The father has sometimes 
good reasons for deferring a favor that he intends for his 
child, and an obedient and affectionate child will be silent 
and satisfied, when the father says, "Wait a little, I will see 
about it." 

These are some of the present benefits conveyed by that 
" covenant, well-ordered in all things and sure," which God 
will make with us if we incline our ears and come unto 
Him. We shall not dwell upon the future glory that 
awaits all that believe, that inheritance, incorruptible, un- 
defiled and that fadeth not away, which is reserved for 
such as are kept by the power of God through faith unto 
salvation ready to be revealed at the last time. It is suffi- 
cient to say that this is eternal life to know the only true 
God and Jesus Christ whom He has sent. It is to be as 
ha2:)py as our renewed, restored, immortalized natures can 
bear, to bask in the smile of a covenant God for ever and 
ever. 

We have, secondly^ to inquire what is the condition of 
the covenant, or what are the means by which we may se- 
cure the benefit of it to ourselves. 

This is expressed in our text by the gracious command, 
" Incline your ear and come unto me ; hear and your soul 
shall live." 

The first requisite is that we should attend to the kind 
invitations of divine Q-race. As we observed at the beorin- 



OF THE GOSPEL OFFER. 179 

ning of our discourse, the great difficulty is to induce men 
to listen to the overtures of mercy. Their minds are so 
entirely preoccupied with worldly cares, and business, and 
pleasure, that there is no room for the promises of their 
Maker. Even when they attend on the means of grace and 
visit the house of God, their thoughts are elsewhere. Their 
affections are preengaged. Their treasure and their heart 
is in the world. They are satisfied with their condition. 
They have no mind to relinquish their present sources of 
enjoyment, for something of which they can form but a 
very faint and unsatisfactory idea. 

But the evil that lies at the root is the natural aversion 
of the human heart to God and spiritual truth. Their 
minds are carnal, altogether occujDied about the pleasures 
and cares of the body. They do not come with any ear- 
nest, prevailing, influential desire to learn the truths of re- 
ligion. Hence, they pay but a listless attention at best. 
They do not incline their ear to receive instruction. They 
are not willing to seek for wisdom as for hidden treasures, 
nor to cry after knowledge, or to lift up their voice for un- 
derstanding. Yet they might be sure, seeing God has 
made fixedness of purpose and diligent labor necessary for 
the ac(pisition of earthly good, that these are no less nec- 
essary for the obtaining of heavenly treasures. They might 
know that to come to the house of worship with no sin- 
cere desire of being benefited, is no better than mocking 
God. 

To secure an interest in the everlasting covenant requires 
more than a passing thought, and idle wish. It requires 
strict attention, deep and earnest meditation, long contin- 
ued reflection. Thus the subject will grow upon our minds. 
It will appear in something of its real weight and impor- 
tance. We shall begin to feel our spiritual wants and to 



180 FKEZXESS AVD LAEGES^SS 

long for a supply. We shall embrace every opportunity of 
being directed to the right course. 

But this is not all. *' Hear and your soul shall live.^ To 
hear is to obey. We must yield implicit deference to the 
whispers of conscience, and follow the gentle drawings of 
the Holy Spirit. We must be in earnest. Every known 
sin must be resolutely relinquished, every known duty per- 
formed at once. " Wash you, make you clean. Put away 
the evil of your doings. Cease to do evil, learn to do welL^ 
Such is the reasonable demand which the Lord makes upon 
His rebellious subjects, when He offers to pardon their past 
offences, and to receive them into fevor. " Let the wicked 
forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts, and 
let him return unto the Lord, for He will have mercy upon 
him, and to our God for He will abundantly pardon." 

You can make no atonement for your past sins. This 
has been done by God when He *' was in Christ reconciling 
the world unto Himself, not imputing their tresspasses unto 
them." All you have to do is gratefully tx) accept the of- 
fered pardon, free and full, of all your past sins. 

But the mercy of God ought certainly to move you not 
to go on in your sins. If your case were hopeless, if there 
were no mercy in store for you, it might be natural, I do 
not say it would be right, if you continued in sin and rebel- 
lion. But for a creature, favored as you are with the as- 
surance that God is reconciled, and only waiting for your 
return ; ready what moment you are truly sorry that you 
have offended Him, and acknowledging your guilt without 
concealment or palliation, to receive you at once into favor, 
to adopt you as one of His children, for Christ's sake, — for 
a creature so highly favored, to determine to live one day 
longer in rebellion against so kind, so gracious a God, — 



OF THE GOSPEL OFFER. 181 

what could equal such black ingratitude, such surpassing 
wickedness ? 

Of one thing you may be sure, that till you submit your- 
self entirely to the direction of God, and yield implicit 
obedience to His commands — there can be no friendship, 
no reconciliation. The blood of Christ, infinite as is its 
value, can not avail for sinners who persist in their rebellion. 

The mercy of God will never reach your case if you thus 
harden yourselves in sin. '' Sear and your soul shall live." 
But if you will not hear, if you refuse to submit, if the love 
of Christ can not move you, if the long-suffering of God 
which you have so richly experienced can not influence you, 
if His goodness can not lead you to repentance, then are 
you indeed without hope, and living and dying thus, there 
is no recovery for you in time or eternity. 

Once more before you form the fatal resolution that may 
seal your doom for ever, let me beseech you, to incline 
your ear to the tender of mercy. Consider what conde- 
scension it is for your injured, offended Creator — who has 
you entirely at His disposal — to make the first overtures 
for a reconciliation. 

What unheard of love was it that caused Him to give up 
His well beloved Son to the torments of the cross for your 
deliverance ? Will you not listen to His proposals ? Will 
you not acknowledge your guilt and pray for mercy, and 
lay hold on the hope set before you ? 

But you do not believe that your case, is so desperate as 
we would represent it. But why, then, did the innocent, 
the holy, the righteous Saviour endure that anguish and 
shame to which He voluntarily submitted ? There, in that 
solemn spectacle exhibited on Calvary, you may see the 
true desert of sin. "If they do such things in the green 
tree," said the compassionate Redeemer, as He was sinking 



182 rPvEZXESS AXD LAEGEXESS 

under the burden of His cross — " what shall be done to the 
dry ?" If He endured such inconceivable anguish, merely 
for our sakes, what must be the condition of all those who 
will not allow themselves to be saved ? Who put away 
eternal life, as a gift not worth accepting? ^' ,:-y 

the Son of God afresh, and trample on His tl: : .-l ...^ ii it 
were an impure thing ? 

But if you are not willing to relinquish all claim upon the 
Saviour's mediation in your behalf then confess your sins 
and forsake them. Do not stand upon your rights or your 
righteousness ; if you do, you forfeit your interest in Christ, 
for He came not to call the righteous but sinners to repent- 
ance. "The whole need no physician," the righteous need 
no Saviour. 

'Nov will He ever consent to share the g]ory of His un- 
dertaking with the sinner. Tou must accept the blessings 
of divine grace as a gift purely free, or you can not receive 
it. " If by grace, then is it no more of works, otherwise 
grace is no more grace. And if of works then it is no more 
grace ; otherwise work is no more work.*- These two can 
not coalesce — sooner will oil and water mingle, or light and 
darkness be united. 

Choose, then, whether you will be saved by Christ as sin- 
ners deserving hell, or whether you will stand before God 
in judgment, and be tried and dealt with on the ground of 
your own goodness and virtue. 



SERMON XI. 

REASON WHY MEN PERISH. 

"And ye will not come to me that ye might have life." — John", v. 40. 

All men desire to be happy. Yet by their own confes- 
sion, as well as by the manifest language of their conduct, 
few are happy. When, therefore, the gospel offers life, that 
is, happiness to men, on easy and practicable terms, one 
would suppose that at least a large proportion would gladly 
seize the offered boon. But the fact is just the contrary. 
Comparatively few can be induced to accept the promised 
mercy of God. By far the greatest number would rather 
seek happiness any where than from their Maker's favor. 

They are more willing to trust the world, though disap- 
pointed a thousand times, than to put confidence in the 
word of Him that can not lie. Nothing sets the fallen state 
of mankind in a clearer light than the sad but indisputable 
fact that ihej would rather be beholden for a favor to any 
one or any th'ng than to the Author of their being. 

So inveterate, is the secret opposition of their heart to 
God, that neitbr kindness nor severity, neither threaten- 
ings nor promises avail to overcome it. To many, the very 
mention of religon and attendance on its ordinances is irk- 
some in the extiBme. 

The reason of this is that their desires, wishes, aims, en- 
joyments and hcoes are all earthly and sensual, and opposed 
to the holiness o' God and the demands of a spiritual law. 



184 REASON WHY MEN PERISH. 

This was the origin of idolatry, the essence of which consists 
in the low and degrading ideas that men formed to them- 
selves of the Deity. As the apostle speaks, that " even as 
they did not like to retain God in their knowledge, God 
gave them over to a reprobate mind ;" that is, He suffered 
them to go on hardening themselves more and more, sink- 
ing continually deeper into every vice and abomination 
that can defile the soul, till their condition was as deplor- 
able as their hearts were vile. 

And though in a Christian land, under the restraining 
influences of the gospel, many of those who do not yield it 
a sincere obedience are prevented from falling into the ex- 
cesses that prevailed in the heathen world — though there is 
an outward decency of conduct, and in general a higher 
tone of morality to be seen, yet if the secret thoughts of 
many could be read, the same bitter hostility to God and 
His ways might be discovered that manifested itself at the 
first promulgation of the Christian religion. In short, all 
unconverted persons partake more or less of th?s hostility, 
for it is a solemn truth, of universal application, that " the 
carnal mind is enmity against God, for it is not subject to 
the law of God, neither indeed can be." It is not only here 
and there an individual, of a peculiarly vicious character, 
that is opposed to God, but such is the case w^h all men in 
their natural condition, before they have beea renewed by 
divine grace. And therefore we might well despair of pro- 
ducing any beneficial effect by preaching U unwilling ears, 
had we not the promise of God that the wo-d which He has 
sent forth shall not return to Him void, bul shall jDrosper in 
its mission ; that the influences of the Hoj^ Spirit shall ac- 
company the faithful labors of His servants 
effectual to the salvation of some. 

Therefore we continue to hold up to yo 



and make them 
the same essen- 



REASON WHY MEN PERISH. 185 

tial truths from Sabbath to Sabbath, though they seem to 
lie idle in the hearts of the hearers ; for the word of God 
is like living seed, which may lie long in the ground with- 
out showing any signs of vegetation ; but which, when the 
earth has been mellowed by alternate frost and heat, needs 
but the returning beams of the vernal sun, and the fructi- 
fying showers of spring, to be called into life and activity, 
rewarding the labors of the husbandman after having waited 
long and patiently for the early and the latter rain. 

This is our comfort under the painful conviction that to 
many we must prove a " savor of death unto death," a means, 
though involuntarily, of bringing upon them a severer con- 
demnation at the judgment day. Nor is the cause of their 
ruin to be sought in any decree of God, barring them out 
from the benefits of the gospel, nor in any unwillingness 
on the part of Christ to receive any that come unto Him. 
The fault lies solely with themselves, for preferring the un- 
satisfying delights of sense, and the unprofitable gain of 
worldly good or honor, to the calm and enduring joys of 
religion. 

As the Saviour declares : " This is the condemnation, that 
light is come into the world, but men loved darkness rather 
than light ;" or as He says to the Jews in our text : '' Ye 
wdll not come unto me that ye might have life." From 
these words we shall take occasion to show that. 

The reason, and the only reason why men perish in 
their sins, is that they will not come to christ. 

May the Lord open the eyes of all whom it concerns, to 
see their danger and their remedy, before it be everlast- 
ingly too late ! 

We observe eirst, that all may come unto Christ and have 
life, if they will. 

For, in the first place, the invitations of the gospel are 



186 REASON WHY MEN PERISH. 

perfectly general. None are excluded from the benefit, 
unless they exclude themselves by willful obstinacy and un- 
belief. " The grace of God " says the apo^stle, " which 
bringeth salvation, hath appeared unto all men, teaching us 
that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live 
soberly, righteously, and godly, in this present world." 

Here, indeed, the difficulty meets us, that men have nat- 
urally no desire to deny themselves in their ungodliness 
and indulgence of worldly lusts, and no inclination to prac- 
tise a life of sobriety, righteousness, and godliness; and 
that therefore the conditions of the gospel not being to 
their mind, it is not to be wondered at that they should re- 
ject them. But to obviate this difficulty, God has in infi- 
nite wisdom and mercy, set before them the consequences 
of a vicious and ungodly life. In this world already much 
misery, shame, and remorse are the never-failing attend- 
ants of unbridled lusts. Any one that will be at the pains 
to study the lives of some who have cut a figure in the 
world, and have realized to the utmost the pleasures such 
as they are, which it can yield, must know that they furnish 
but a poor compensation for the disgrace, and sorrow, and 
anguish which they bring upon their votaries. And we are 
so constituted, that with their best, endeavors, men can not 
so entirely brutalize their minds, as not to feel the vast su- 
periority of virtue over vice, even when they are them- 
selves entirely given up to sensuality. Could we get a can- 
did confession of the truth from the most successful votaries 
of miscalled pleasure, it would no doubt correspond with 
what the well known Colonel Gardiner acknowledged after 
his conversion, that when he was at the height of a life of 
licentious indulgence, he often envied the condition of the 
dog under the table, wishing that his might have been the 
same. His immortal nature would make itself felt in spite 



REASON WHY MEN PERISH. 187 

of his endeavors to crush it by vicious excesses, making him 
at times supremely miserable. And when the powers of 
indulgence are exhausted by age and intemperance, how 
poor, how vapid is life, when nothing remains but the dregs 
of the intoxicating cup ! 

But, not content with giving men to experience in a mea- 
sure (sufficient to convince every reasonable mind), the 
folly as well as wickedness of an ungodly life, our gracious 
Creator has solemnly warned us of far worse that awaits all 
ungodly persons in a future world. He has assured us that 
His indignation will be poured out upon all the workers of 
iniquity. And no man can entirely get rid of the well- 
grounded fears of a hereafter. Conscience will whisper into 
his ears at times that he is exposed to eternal damnation ; that 
God will execute His righteous sentence upon all the de- 
spisers of His grace, and transgressors of His law. Hence 
he dare not be alone. He can not bear to be in the dark. 
He is alarmed as soon as his life is in danger. The thunder 
terrifies him. The rustling of a leaf makes him start. His 
dreams distress him. The curse of the law pursues him ; 
and he knows but too well for his comfort, that sooner or 
later it will overtake him, to his everlasting confusion. 

Thus there is every reason that he should turn from his 
wickedness and seek the Lord while He may be found. 
And if he turns at the command of his Maker, he shall yet 
find mercy, as many have done, who had gone far astray. 
Some of the vilest and most abandoned characters have be- 
come monuments of grace. For Christ rejects none that 
come unto Him. He graciously regarded the woman that 
had been a notorious sinner, when she bathed His feet with 
her tears, and wiped them with the hair of her head, and 
spoke words of comfort to her (when the Pharisee with 
whom He dined had expressed his contempt by his looks), 



188 KEASOX WHY ME^' PERISH. 

saying, " Her sins which are many are forgiven, for she 
loved much : but he to whom little is forgiven, the same 
loveth little." 

When Manasseh, the degenerate son of a pious father, 
after having filled Jerusalem with innocent blood, was car- 
ried captive to Babylon for his sins, and there repented, the 
Lord forgave his iniquities and caused him to return and to 
reign in peace. All that have turned to the Lord in 
earnest have in like manner found pardon and peace. They 
have experienced the truth of the promise that in the cov- 
enant sealed by the blood of the Saviour, God would re- 
member their sins and iniquities no more ; and that He 
would take the stony heart out of their flesh and give them 
a heart of flesh. 

Only we must begin at the right place. We must not 
think of first making ourselves better by our own endeav- 
ors, but go at once to Christ, who is " exalted as a Prince 
and Saviour to give repentance to His people." We must 
come to Him with all our sins and sorrows, and pray to Him 
for help. We must put confidence in the gracious purposes 
of our Creator, and believe the record He has given of 
His Son. 

When by faith we look upon a crucified Saviour, joy and 
peace will fill our hearts. The power of sin will be de- 
stroyed. The venom of the serpent infesting our system 
will be removed. Health w^ill be restored to our spiritual 
frame. The unruly passions that had caused us so much 
unhappiness will be subdued. Love to God will fill our 
hearts. Gratitude and joy w^ill spring up in our bosom. 
The dark night of sin and guilt will be followed by a joyful 
morning, caused by the cheering beams of the Sim of 
righteousness. The feeling of seclusion from God will be 
exchanged for a sense of the divine favor and a conscious- 



KEASON WHY MEN PERISH, 189 

ness of being reunited to the Author of our existence. 
Such is the experience of all who have in sincerity ap- 
plied to the Saviour for help. And none have ever been 
able to show that they had honestly obeyed the divine invi- 
tation to return, and had been rejected. Some have, indeed, 
run for a while in the ways of righteousness, and afterwards 
have returned to their former sinful courses. But they 
have had to confess that it was by their own fault ; that 
they were warned and reproved ; but they would not take 
warning. They grieved the Spirit and thus caused Him to 
take His flight, but not till He had faithfully performed His 
ofiice of convincing them of their guilt. 

None has had it to say that God has failed to fulfill His 
promise, whenever it was claimed with humble faith and 
sincere repentance. None can say that the Saviour was not 
Milling to help him, when he came with penitent confession 
of his sins and cast himself solely upon the grace of his Re- 
deemer and God. Though we may be unfaithful. He can 
not deny Himself. He can not prove untrue to His holy 
and benign nature ; and happy is he that casts himself im- 
plicitly upon the promise and oath of a covenant-keeping 
God ! Why is it then, that men will refuse the kind pro- 
posals of their benevolent Creator ? 

The consideration of this question will form the second 
division of our discourse. 

The general reason which is to be sought in the native 
depravity of the human heart and its opposition to the 
holiness of the divine character, we have already spoken 
of. We shall now consider, somewhat more in detail, the 
principal hinderances to men's accepting the offers of the 
gospel. 

What we mention firsts is pride. Pride is extravagant 
self-love. It consists in an overweening esteem of ourselves, 



190 REASON WHY MEK PEEISH. 

by which we are blinded to a correct view of the station 
which we occupy in the moral world. It induces us to 
think ourselves better than others, and refuses to God Him- 
self the respect we owe Him as creatures and subjects of 
His moral government. While this feeling prevails in the 
breast, it is not to be expected that a man will sincerely 
acknowledge his sins against his Maker, or honestly submit 
to His lawful sway. Pride is, therefore, one main obstacle 
to man's repentance. And it clings so close to the heart, 
it is so intimately interwoven with every fiber of the soul, 
that it is extremely difficult to eradicate. Nothing short of 
divine grace can effectually subdue it. 

At the same time there are other principles at work in 
the human heart, which may convince any one that will 
take pains to reflect, how foolish and how wicked a thing 
is pride. Even self-love in a different direction is opposed 
to it. For nothing is plainer than that pride stands in the 
way of our happiness. Even in the ordinary intercourse of 
society, no character is exposed to more frequent and severe 
rebuffs than the proud man. The more he displays this dis- 
position the more certainly does he draw upon himself the 
displeasure of all his companions. His pride naturally 
excites theirs ; and thus they will combine instinctively to 
humble him. They wall embrace every opportunity of mor- 
tifying him, and the gentlest of his comrades will be pleased 
to see his pride meet with a fall. And without any attempt 
of this kind on the part of others, his own morbid sensibil- 
ity will give him continual pain. He will often fancy him- 
self neglected or insulted, where no injury w^as intended. 
Thus he is in a state of constant hostility to all around. He 
is rendered miserable by the most trifling circumstances. 
Exposed to fancied or real injuries every moment, he is 
among the most unhappy of mortals. 



REASON WHY MEN PEEISH. 191 

Surely, this might convince any one that has not en- 
tirely abjured all reflection, that pride is incompatible with 
happiness ; that one or the other must be relinquished ; 
that unless he is willing to bid adieu to all the advantages 
and blessings of social intercourse, he must give up his 
pride. And much more, if he would participate in the 
blessings of the gospel, would become a loyal subject of 
God's moral government, and have a share and a place in 
the kingdom of heaven, he must relinquish a feeling so 
hateful to God and man. In short, unless he is prepared 
to derive all his happiness fi'om himself, while he has God 
and all the creatures of God opposed to him, he must part 
with his pride. Against no class of His rebel subjects is 
the indignation of Jehovah more directly and more fiercely 
aimed than against the proud and haughty. " God resisteth 
the proud, but giveth grace unto the humble." "Learn of 
me," says the Saviour, '* for I am meek and lowly in heart." 
" Every one that is proud in heart is an abomination unto 
the Lord." 

To indulge in pride is, therefore, to set yourselves in array 
against the Universe. Even the proud will not sympathize 
with us. Their self-love will be more certainly exasper- 
ated in the presence of a proud man than of any other. 
But this would be nothing, were it not that pride calls forth 
the fiercest indignation of God. The proud man, above all 
others, is exposed to the shafts of divine vengeance. He 
challenges the Almighty to the combat. But " woe to him 
that strives with his Maker." 

A second obstacle to men's accepting the ofiei's of the 
gospel is WOELDLINESS. The cares of this life occupy neces- 
sarily a great share of our attention. When not put under 
proper regulations, they can not fail so to absorb every faculty 
of the mind, as to leave no time for reflection and the search 



192 REASON WHY I^IEN PEEISH. 

of truth. The desire to obtain a competent share of this 
world's goods is in itself neither unlawful nor forbidden. 
But the danger is, and it is very imminent too, that it 
will grow into a passion and transcend the proper bounds. 

Constant experience proves that the love of money in- 
creases with years, and with success in our efforts to ac- 
quire it. Further, the necessary business of life becomes, 
through habit, the great object of our thoughts and solici- 
tude. What we have to attend to every day of our lives, 
and for a great j)art of every day, will, miist^ without a con- 
tinual struggle, occupy all our most earnest thoughts, shut- 
ting out the due concern for our immortal part and future 
well-being. Thus, there are thousands of orderly families, 
respectable citizens, good neighbors, pleasant companions, 
who live a decent, reputable life, entirely engrossed with 
the cares of this world, as forgetful and unconcerned about 
a future state, as if there were no such thing as a life to 
come. 

We might go so far as to say, that of these the bulk of 
society is composed. Such can find no time to give the 
requisite attention to the claims of religion. An outward 
respect to its forms and ordinances is the utmost that can 
be looked for from such characters. 

Many of them are found in the pale of the church, and 
think themselves in a fair way for heaven and its enjoy- 
ments, while their hearts and affections are wholly given 
to earth. These are a dead weight upon a christian society. 
More than any others they retard the progress of the good 
work. They afford but little hope of their own conversion; 
and are a cause of offense to such as are without. " Where- 
in," they will say, " are your christians better than we, who 
make no pretensions to religion ? Are they good neigh- 
bors, generous, kind, obliging ? And are we not the same ?" 



REASON WHY MEN TERISH. 193 

Till the standard of piety in the church can be raised, there 
is little hope of a general revival of religion to be enter- 
tained. And while men are exclusively occupied with the 
cares of this life, the good seed of the word can not bring 
forth fruit unto perfection. 

To counteract this injurious tendency of the necessary 
attention to earthly pursuits, God in wisdom and kindness 
has appointed the Sabbath day ; that by the interruption 
which its due observance causes to the ordinary business of 
life, it may serve to break up the habit, otherwise so easily 
formed, of having all our thoughts and aims confined to 
the low and limited views of our earthly existence. 

The faithful observance of holy time has the happiest 
effect upon the mind and character, N"ay, it is so far from 
interfering with a proper regard for our worldly interests, 
that it has a most favorable influence upon them, by the 
vigor it imparts both to soul and body, besides that it brings 
down the blessing of heaven upon our efforts. And sadly 
will he find himself mistaken some day, who thinks that he 
can get along as well without the favor of his Maker. '* The 
blessing of the Lord maketh rich and He addeth no sorrow 
with it." 

Another means employed by our faithful Creator to break 
up the crust of earthly-mindedness, that is so apt to be 
formed on the heart, rendering it inaccessible to divine 
truth, is by sending disappointments, losses, crosses, vexa- 
tion, sickness. All these are mementos of the vanity of 
earth, of the nearness of death, of the need of a better in- 
heritance than earth can yield. Many a one has had reason 
to be thankful that by the experience he has made, that 
"riches take to themselves wings and fly away," or that 
sickness or the loss of near and dear friends deprive a man 
of his wonted enjoyments, he has been led to seek for more 

9 



194 EEASON WHY MEN PERISH. 

substantial possessions, and more solid comforts than earth 
can yield. 

Indeed, any thing that serves to break up the accustomed 
train of thought and habit, is to be esteemed a favor, and 
will be improved, if we are wise, to secure a share in the 
blessings of the gospel and the favor of our Maker. Those 
who have been early trained in the fear of God, have no 
doubt great advantages, if they but know how to value and 
improve them. 

But there is none who has not seasons of reflection af- 
forded him, even in spite of himself, by that wise and mer- 
ciful Providence that governs the affairs of men : times 
when the hollowness of earth, and the unsatisfying charac- 
ter of all mere earthly pursuits, will rush upon his mind 
with a convincing energy, exciting the wish, if not inducing 
an effort to secure a better inheritance. "Lo all these 
things worketh God oftentimes with man. He openeththe 
ears of men and sealeth their instruction, that He may 
withdraw man from his purpose, and hide pride from man." 

A third obstacle of men's conversion is indolence. 
Man is naturally active. We may see this daily exempli- 
fied in the case of little children, whose tendency to action 
is sometimes apt to become troublesome. But by a wrong 
process of education, as well as by too great indulgence of 
appetite, this tendency is frequently suppressed and slug- 
gishness supervenes. Besides, the random and irregular ac- 
tivity of childhood and youth, is a very different thing from 
a steady application to some serious employment, which it 
is often found very difficult to enforce upon the young. 

Many never obtain so much command over themselves as 
to apply their minds vigorously to a work requiring thought 
•and care. All they aim at is to pass through life with as 
little exertion of mind or body as possible. Such a ten- 



EEASON WHY MEN PERISH. 195 

dency is greatly fostered by the habit of indiscriminate 
reading, merely for amusement, especially of the ligKter 
sort of literature. Nothing will sooner destroy all energy 
of character and vigor of mind than such a practice. 

But from whatever cause it may originate, indolence is a 
prevalent fault among men, and one of the most adverse to 
all mental and moral improvement. It is not enough that 
a man should be busy all day, to screen him from this re- 
proach. It requires that we be able to apply ourselves to a 
labor that is not agreeable, merely because it is right and 
our duty, in order to be free from this fault. Hence it is 
not surprising that the earnestness and serious effort which a 
work of thorough reformation requires, should not be to 
the taste of a great proportion of mankind. The bulk of 
men, in fact, continue to be children all their lives in this 
respect. jS'o serious considerations can find a lodgment in 
their feeble minds. Long-continued reflection is beyond 
their power. Through long indulgence of a desultory hab- 
it of thought, they have in a great measure incapacitated 
themselves for serious meditation. Xo train of thought, 
however important in its bearing upon their welfare, can 
dwell long enough in their minds to produce any but a very 
transient impression. 

The feelings excited by a pungent application of divine 
truth on one Lord's day, have evaporated long before the 
next sermon is heard. Hence, no lasting effects are dis- 
coA^erable. What mainly conduces to this unhappy result, is 
that the same indolent disposition which they bring to the 
hearing of the word, prevents them from putting into prac- 
tice what they hear. Thus if an impression has, perchance, 
been made upon their hearts under the sermon, they want 
resolution to act up to their convictions. They flatter 
themselves with a vain hope, that somehow or other, at 



196 EEASON WHY MEN PEBISH. 

some future period, a favorable conjuncture will occur, when 
it will be easier than just now to carry out the half-formed 
purpose to amend. 

Thus the impression is erased before it has produced any- 
sensible effect upon their lives. And as no fact in the his- 
tory of the human mind is better established than that con- 
victions of duty not acted upon, rapidly lose their poignancy 
and leave the mind less susceptible of serious impressions 
than before, it follows that no class of hearers are less likely 
to be truly converted than those in whom indolence is the 
prevailing bent of mind. Scoffers, men of licentious lives, 
persons immersed in business, the dishonest and proud, may 
sometime or other come under the influence of divine truth ; 
the light may at some unexpected moment flash upon their 
minds and bring them to a stand. Reflection may be ex- 
cited and their true condition be presented to their alarmed 
consciences, and by faithfully following up their convi(?tions, 
they may yet come to a saving knowledge of the truth. 

But of the easy and indolent this is hardly to be expected 
without some special and not to be looked for interference ot 
divine grace. They have had convictions upon convictions, 
they have formed resolution upon resolution, and still they 
remain where they are. Nothing short of a view of hell 
with its lost inmates seems capable of rousing their slug- 
gish spirits to the needed exertion to flee from the wrath 
to come. 

Another and a frequent cause of men's continuing in im- 
penitence is a LIFE OF SENSUAL INDULGENCE. 

This naturally and very commonly induces that indolence 
of which we have just been treating. But as the two are 
not seldom found separate, we have judged it best to treat 
them apart. By sensual indulgence the feelings of the heart 
are blunted. Conscience, after long reproving ineffectually, 



REASON WHY MEN TERISri. 197 

seems to relinquish an office so seemingly useless, and a 
man may be seen to commit every excess, apparently with- 
out the slightest compunction. In such a state of mind, 
the ordinary means of grace will produce little effect. Some 
more violent means are required to arouse the conscience ; 
and it is seldom before sickness or pain, induced by a course 
of intemperance, and the near prospect of death brings the 
wretched slave of his lusts to his senses, that he will be seen 
to manifest any signs of repentance. 

It was when driven to extremities by famine, that the 
prodigal son came to himself, and began to reflect what 
comforts he had enjoyed in his father's house and to wish 
himself at home again, followed by the happy resolve to 
return with a penitent confession of his sins. 

Not only the unlawful indulgence of animal appetites, 
but that more creditable provision for the flesh, which is 
kept within the bounds of an outward propriety, is danger*- 
ous to the interests of the soul. All excess is injurious. 
The mind is by it enslaved to the body. Reason is made 
the pander of the flesh. The soul is degraded and brutal- 
ized. The desire of sensual gratification grows into a habit, 
and while the powers of enjoyment are constantly diminish- 
ing, the desire only becomes the more imperious and irre- 
sistible. Such a one becomes an easy prey to the enemy 
of souls. Like some greedy fish, he snatches at the first 
bait that is thrown out. He grows less nice as to the 
sources and kinds of his pleasures; indulging more fre- 
quently and more largely, till he is rendered stupid in mind 
and heartless in spirit. The coarseness of his disposition is 
by and by impressed upon the features of his countenance. 
His bloated face, his haggard and aimless eyes, his stupid 
looks and vacant gaze betray the ruin that has come upon 



198 REASON WHY MEN PEEISH. 

his immortal part. Well for him if he is yet brought by- 
some painful experience to seek deliverance. 

These four tendencies of the human mind, to pride^ 
worldliness^ indolence and sensuality are the main obstruc- 
tions by which men are kept from coming to Christ. But 
what gives them their greatest virulence is unbeUef ; a false 
and degrading view of the divine character and disbelief of 
the word of God. But for this, the others would lose their 
power over the heart and disappear before the influence of 
divine truth, like the morning mist before the beams of the 
sun. 

A deep sense of the majesty and holiness of God would 
subdue the native pride of the heart ; for what is weak and 
sinful man in the presence of his Maker that he should yet 
be proud. A proper sense of our responsibility would erad- 
icate every tendency to this hateful passion. " For what 
hast thou, O man, that thou hast not received?" Nay, 
more, what faculty are we endowed with, what privilege 
have we enjoyed, that we have not abused ? The higher 
our station or endowments, the greater is our responsi- 
bility. 

How soon would a proper confidence in the parental care 
of our Maker disperse our anxious cares for this life, and 
make us content with comfortable abode, food and raiment ! 
If we reflected aright upon the poverty to which the Son of 
God submitted on earth, surely we should not be over-anx- 
ious to obtain the wealth and honors which He despised. 
Our indolence would be speedily cured if we had a full view 
of the heavenly inheritance which we shall never obtain 
without adequate exertion. 

And our sensuality would receive an effective check if 
we considered that every excessive or unlawful indulgence 
will be followed by the sharpest pains when we shall lift up 



REASON WHY MEN PERISH. 199 

our eyes in hell, being in torment. Then, when made to 
reap the bitter fruits of our intemperance, what comfort 
shall we find in the reflection that for the sake of an evan- 
escent gratification, we have to endure eternal misery, ren- 
dered doubly severe by the recollection of our past follies. 

Thus the great cure for these evil tendencies of our na- 
ture is to be sought in faith. A clear and prevailing sense 
of the holy character of God, in whose presence we live and 
act at all times ; whose penetrating glance no art or device 
can evade ; who has declared that He will bring every work 
into judgment, with every secret thing, whether it be good 
or evil — this constant sense of our accountability to a Being 
of infinite holiness, wisdom, justice, power and truth, should 
impress us with a solemn awe, and a fear to do wrong in 
ever so small a matter— while a firm belief in the promise 
and truth of God should encourage us to begin at once 
and in earnest the attempt to please and serve Him with 
all our powers^ 

Add to this an abiding and heartfelt sense of the infinite 
kindness of our God in providing a Saviour for our fallen 
race, a feeling conviction of the love of Christ in assuming 
our nature, and with it our debt of guilt, and liability to 
the sentence of that holy law which we had broken, and 
we should have a motive strong enough to overcome every 
temptation, assisted, too, as we should be, by the gracious 
influences of God's Holy Spirit. 

Thus, though our case is dangerous, it is not desperate, 
unless by willfully persisting in unbelief and rebellion we 
provoke the Lord to swear in His wrath that we shall not 
enter into rest. But what madness were this, to reject the 
means graciously devised for our recovery by infinite wis- 
dom ; tneans that required no less a sacrifice than God's 
onl;y and well-beloved Son ; means so stupendous, arguing 



200 REASON WHY MEN PERISH. 

such a depth and height of love and compassion, as to 
transcend the comprehension of every finite nature ! 

What folly equal to that of the sinner who deliberately 
or negligently puts away from him, as a thing not worthy 
of regard, a salvation purchased at such a cost, a heaven 
redeemed when forfeited by sin, at a price above all price. 
Shall it yet be said of any of us: ye will not come unto 
the Saviour that ye might have life ? Is heavenly glory 
not worthy of your ambition ? Are the torments of hell 
not deserving of your fears ? 



SERMON XII. 

THE TRUE SOURCE OF WISDOM. 

" If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men 
liberally and upbraideth not, and it shall be given him. But let him 
ask in faith, nothhng wavering." — James, I 5, 6. 

In all ages of the world, and in all countries where any 
degree of civilization has existed, the pursuit of wisdom has 
been praised and recommended, as the most noble object 
of human search. Those who have devoted themselves to 
this study have been called wise men, philosophers, terms 
which imply a character of superior excellence. Many 
names have been handed down from ancient times of men 
distinguished in this respect. Both the East and the West, 
Jews and Gentiles, have had their sages or teachers of 
wisdom. 

But much that passed under the name of wnsdom and 
deep knowledge, was nothing less than fanciful, and often 
absurd speculations concerning things that have no prac- 
tical bearing either upon physical or moral culture. Hence 
Socrates, rejecting these vain disputations, and confining 
himself in his teachings to matters intimately connected 
with morals and religion, or outward utility, was said to 
have drawn philosophy from the skies, and to have brought 
her down to earth. In general, there was more of a 
rehgious tendency, though much defaced by superstition 
and vain speculation, in the Eastern philosophy than in that 
of Greece and Rome. 

9* 



202 THE TEUE 50UECE OE WISDOM. 

But, both tailed to accomplish their professed ends. Only 
where the light of divine revelation has shined have men 
been able to form correct views of what constitutes true 
wisdom. 

A few lines drawn from that sacred source will give us a 
clearer and more prohtable idea of true wisdom than ah 
the profoundest sayings of heatheo sages, whose best 
thoughts are so intermingled with error as to need very 
careful sifting indeed, to render them harmless as rules of con- 
duct ; while to the Bible at large may be apphed the praises 
of the divine law contained in the 19th Psalm : '* The law 
of the Lord is perfect, converting the soul : the testimony 
of the Lord is sure, making wise the simple.*' All its in- 
structions on this head, indeed, may be summed up in that 
oft repeated expression: ''The fear of the Lord is the be- 
ginning 01 wisdom." and " to depart from evil," we are 
told, "is understanding.*' 

TTi-dom, in short, in its proper acceptation, is the knowl- 
edge required to guide us into the path of true excellence, 
perfection and happiness, and this path can be found no 
where but in the fear of God, and humble submission to 
His will. 

Hence, will appear at once the propriety of the advice 
C': -f- :i- 'jinrained in our text, "If any of you 

lack wUdom. 1-: h;::i ask of God, that giveth to all men 
liberally and iip;.'; ulderh not, and it shall be given him. 
But -if t him ask in f ;::!!. nothing wavering." 

Thest^ woi'ds will furnish us with the occasion of speaking 

Oe the TEUE SOUECE OY WISDOAI. 

May G:d. th- Autlior of wisdom, open my understand- 
ing, and dii'cc: my thoughts, so that I may present the sub- 
ject in a way that shall be profitable to the hearers. We 
ask it for Jtsus* sake. 



THE TRUE SOURCE OF WISDOIC. 203 

We begin with briefly inquiring, following the order of 
our text, Who is to ask- for wisdom? According to the 
language of St. James, it is any one that lacks it. This is 
evidently intended of such as are sensible of their want. 
Otherwise it can not be expected that they w^ould be sin- 
cere or earnest in their request, nor would their flint cries 
reach the ears of Jehovah Sabaoth. 

There is much that is called prayer by men, which is not 
acknowledged as such by the Lord, and hence no answer is 
returned. Some put up prayers which they would actually 
be sorry to have answered. Others do not know what they 
are asking for. With many prayer is a mere form, by 
which they do not think of asking for any thing ; while 
some ask for things injurious or forbidden. 

It is necessary, therefore, if we are to ask aright, that we 
should have a proper sense of our wants, as the Saviour 
says to the church of Laodicea: ^'Thou sayest, I am rich 
and increased with goods, and have need of nothing ; and 
knowest not that thou art wretched, and miserable, and 
poor, and blind, and naked." 

Experience proves that none has ever in earnest prayed 
for wisdom or any other divine gift, till driven by an op- 
pressive sense of his ignorance, and wretchedness, and need 
of grace. So that, though the promise is perfectly general 
it is no less true, that not every body to whose ears it comes 
is in a state of mind fit to profit by it. There is scarce any 
want that men are so slow to acknowledge as the want of 
wisdom. 

A man will sooner acknowledge himself to be a sinner, a 
wicked man, than to be a fool. There seems to be some- 
thing so degrading in this term, that to reproach another 
with folly is considered as the greatest indignity ; and to 
' confess it of one's self is the depth of humility. Therefore 



204 THE TRUE SOURCE OF WISDOM. 

our Saviour, in an ecstatic moment, rejoicing in spirit, said : 
"I thank thee, O Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that 
Thou hast hid these things from the wise and prudent and 
hast revealed them unto babes. Even so Father, for so it 
seemed good in Thy sight." On another occasion He as- 
sured His disciples that unless they became as little children, 
they could not enter the kingdom of heaven. 

But any one that is truly sensible of lacking the wisdom 
that is from above may ask, and will find his authority for 
so doing in the text. 

We proceed, in the next place, to the question of whom 
he is to ask. Answer, of God. This seems very plain and 
simple. And yet it may demand some elucidation. For 
heathens, and Mohammedans, and heretics, and false re- 
ligionists of all classes, profess to pray and to call upon God. 
But do they call upon the true God ? And if in their ig- 
norance they pray to a false god, or what is essentially the 
same thing, pray to God while entertaining radically false 
views of His character, will He hear and answer them ? 

We presume not ; though we do not wish to set limits to 
His goodness. But for Him to answer the prayers of such, 
supposing them to be sincere, would it not be confirming 
them in their wrong views and doctrines ? 

The apostle, writing to the Hebrews, says : " He that com- 
eth unto God must believe that He is, and that He is the 
Rewarder of such as diligently seek Him.'' From which it 
is manifest that just views of the divine character to a cer- 
tain extent, are a necessary requisite towards an acceptable 
worship. 

Moreover, we are directed to ask in the name of Christ ; 
so that such as do not believe in Christ as " the Lamb of 
God that taketh away the sin of the world," and who do 



THE TRUE SOURCE OF WISDOM. 205 

not approach the Father as reconciled in Christ, can not 
pray with acceptance. 

Nor can such as are impenitent, but persist in rebelHon 
and willful sin, come before Him in an acceptable way. 
These, if they still pray, must suppose that God winks at 
their sins, that it is a matter of indiJBference with Him 
whether His worshipers are holy or not, or, in other words, 
they do not believe that God is a holy God. Or if they 
say that Christ has atoned for sin, they would make " Christ 
the minister of sin," as the apostle expresses it, which 
amounts to the same thing. Right views of God's charac- 
ter, therefore, as we said, are essential to a true and spirit- 
ual worship, and to such an asking as shall receive a favor- 
able answer. ^ 

But we proceed to a third point, and inquire next. What 
we shall ask for ? The promise of our text is not an unlim- 
ited one as to the subjects of our petition. If we ask for 
wisdom in the right manner we shall obtain it. 

Thisieads us to examine more particularly what is here 
meant by wisdom. To this inquiry we may answer in a 
general way, that it implies whatever is necessary to ena- 
ble us to understand and practice what is for our best and 
highest interest. That man is considered wise who pursues 
the highest good, though at the sacrifice of some less valu- 
able possession if necessary, who looks not only at what is 
immediately before him, his present gratification, or advan- 
tage, but who takes large views and looks forward to the 
end. Thus the man who should indulge his appetite at the 
expense of health would not be considered wise ; nor he 
that should refuse to part with a small sum, by the outlay 
of which he might secure a valuable property. Nor can ho 
be thought wise that would seek the pleasures, wealth, or 
honor of this world, at the risk of losing his soul ; or who 



206 THE TEUE SOURCE OF TTISDOM. 

should be diligent to lay up for the wants of old age, while 
he neglected to make any provision for eternity. 

Thus, true wisdom demands that we should seek first and 
chiefly "the kiuo-dom of God and His rio^hteousness ;" and 
the knowledge and ability requisite for this end is what we 
are directed to ask of God. But there are other things 
which are important to be known and acted upon, in order 
to pass our lives usefully, satisfactorily and comfortably ; all 
which we may ask for, and if we ask aright they shall be 
given to us with a liberal hand. 

Vfe often find ourselves in difficult circumstances, where 
it is hard to tell what is best to be done. But where human 
wit fails, divine wisdom can direct, and for this we are per- 
mitted, nay, I might say, commanded to rray. This wis- 
dom which God will so liberally bestow, implies more than 
the mere knowledge of what is best to be done. This 
would often be of little avail, unless the ability to execute 
were also there. This, therefore, is manifestly included, 
agreeably to the words of St. Paul to the Philippians, " It is 
God that worketh in you, both to will and to do of His 
good pleasure." When God, gives He gives royally. He 
deals out with a munificent economy the blessings of His 
Providence and the blessings of His grace. He says Him- 
self to His people, " Open thy mouth wide and I will fill it." 
He loves to be importuned for large gifts ; and will sooner 
bestow what to little minded beings like ourselves may 
seem an extravagant largeness, than to come down with 
His gifts to the smallness of our desires. While our hearts 
are fixed upon the true riches, we can not indulge too ex- 
travagant desires,' nor make too large demands upon the 
divine liberality. In respect to the things of this fife, we 
often ask amiss, and generally are too anxious. In regard 
to these it is as much in mercy as in anger that our requests 



THE TEUE SOUECE OF WISDOM. 207 

are not always granted. Thus, when the Israelites in the 
wilderness "tempted God in their heart, by asking raeat for 
their lust. He rained flesh upon them as dust ; even feath- 
ered fowl like as the sand of the sea — so they did eat and 
were well tilled, for He gave them their own desire ; but 
while their meat was yet in their mouths the wrath of God 
came upon them and slew the fattest of them, and smote 
down the chosen men of Israel." 

We are directed to pray for our " daily bread ;" not for 
a month's or a year's supply. And even in spiritual things 
too, we must learn to live from day to day. We do not 
receive a stock of grace upon which we might live for days 
and weeks without any further supplies. At the same time 
we are to ask for a large measure of grace, and we shall be 
much more likely to obtain, than if we content ourselves 
with a mere pittance. 

This leads us, in the fourth place, to inquire more particu- 
larly how we are to ask ? 

To this point, the apostle says, "But let him ask in faith, 
nothing wavering." To ask in faith is to have a firm per- 
suasion that God is willing and ready to bestow the things 
that we ask for. In order to this we must be convinced 
that what we ask is agreeable to His will; for it would be 
fatuity to suppose that by any importunity or bribery (if I 
shall so speak) we could obtain that of God which He 
properly was not willing to bestow, or that His gifts could 
in any wise be extorted from Him. In short, if God did 
not give liberally and freely, according to His own spon- 
taneous promise, no power of men or angels could avail to 
compel Him to it. 

But does He not frequently defer His answer, even when 
we ask for things that are agreeable to His will, and ask 
with importunity too ? Xo doubt, this often seems to be 



208 THE TEUE SOURCE OF WISDOM. 

the case. But then it is for wise and gracious reasons. 
Either it is intended to raise our desires for spiritual bless- 
ings still higher, and thus to make the gift doubly sweet 
and welcome when at last it is bestowed, or it may be the 
very way in which the result for which we long and pray 
may be most effectually brought to pass. 

Of this we may be assured, that no prayer offered in faith 
and sincerity will remain unanswered, though we may not 
immediately see in what way the answer comes. This is 
necessary for the trial of our faith, which could not take 
place, if we always received an immediate and sensible 
answer to prayer. While, therefore, faith, an unwavering 
conviction of the truth and fidelity of God, is necessary in 
order to render our prayers acceptable, this must be accom- 
panied by a willingness to wait for God's time ; an humble 
submission to His superior wisdom, with the felt assurance 
that how long so ever He may seem to tarry. He will surely 
come to us at the proper time with blessings in both hands. 
Says the same apostle from whom our text is taken : " Ye 
have heard of the patience of Job, and have seen the end 
of the Lord ; that the Lord is very pitiful and of tender 
mercy." Says the Saviour: "Shall not God avenge His 
own elect which cry day and night unto Him, though He 
bear long with them ? I tell you that He will avenge them 
speedily." Or as St. Peter speaks : " The Lord is not slack 
concerning His promise, as some men count it slackness, 
but is long suffering to usward, not willing that any should 
perish, but that all should come to repentance." 

At the same time that we are to wait patiently for God's 
best time, we are to ask with a holy importunity and ear- 
nestness if we would have our prayers answered. This will 
afford the surest evidence of our being sincere and truly in 
earnest in bur petitions. 



THE TRUE SOURCE OF WISDOM. 209 

This our Saviour has recommended by the parable of the 
unjust Judge and the widow, whose case he was unwilling 
at first to take up, but, tired of her importunity, he finally 
granted her request. And would God be less kind to His 
own children and chosen people ? We ought, therefore, to 
stir up our hearts to take hold of the mercy-seat with an 
earnest and agonizing faith, if we would see great and glo- 
rious results from our asking for wisdom. " His own elect," 
says Christ, " cry day and night unto Him." The burden 
of our prayers ought always to be such things as relate to 
the kingdom of God, and its advancement both in our own 
hearts and those of our fellow-creatures ; and for wisdom 
by which we may be qualified to perform every duty, and 
especially, also, that we may contribute our part to the ad- 
vancement of Christ's cause. " For none of us liveth to 
himself, and no man dieth to himself; for whether we live, 
we live unto the Lord, and whether we die, we die unto the 
Lord ; whether we live, therefore, or die, we are the Lord's ;" 
and it is only when we regulate our whole conduct and 
conversation on these principles that we live to a good pur- 
pose, according to true wisdom. For this we ought to pray 
constantly and earnestly, so that the will of God may be 
fully and efiectually accomplished in us. 

And so to live and so to pray, we have the greatest pos- 
sible encouragement. We are not only commanded if we 
lack wisdom, if we are conscious that we are not so well 
qualified for the w^ork assigned us on earth as we ought to 
be and as we would wish to be — to " ask of God that giveth 
to all men liberally and upbraideth not ; " but we are pos- 
itively assured that if w^e ask in the right spirit and man- 
ner, that it shall be given us. 

We have in our text an express and plain promise, as 
founded on the liberality of God — " In Christ are hid all 



210 THE TEFZ SOUECE OF TTISDOM. 

the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.*' We read that 
He, having conquered the great foe of G: I -^iid man, has 
" received gifts for men, yea, for the i-:-L::.;s also, that 
the Lord God might dweh among them.*- All that He did, 
and suffered, and acquired, was as a public character, the 
mediator between God and men, Himself both God and 
man in one person. AH his virtues and riches are for our 
benefit, if we believe in Him and obey Him. And now 
what we ask in His name, for His sake and for His cause, 
we shall receive. 

The very fact that '• God spared not His own Son, but 
delivered Him up for us ah,*' is evidence that He can not 
refuse us anything that we need — it is the strongest proof 
that God could give of His love and His yearning desire 
for our salvation. 

Hence, to believe this great fact and to expect every 
blessing and mercy at the hands of our " '^ " ' -r. is 

one and the same thing. "VTe can not c-v^c^. t,.. .^uch, 
nor be too importunate in our requests for wisdom, for God 
'' giveth liberally ; *' He bestows bountifuhy, and richly, and 
continually. He is never weary of giving. Xay. the oft- 
ener we come to beg for more, the more welcome are we 
to our gracious Creator^ Benefactor and Sovereign. And 
" He upbraideth not.'* He does not throw up to us our 
former sins, our ingratitude and rebeUion, if we only once 
turn to Him in eaniest, with sincere confession of sin, and 
an upright intention to do better. 

He has '• given us many exceeding great and precious 
promises," as St. Peter speaks, and the moment that we lay 
hold on these by faith, we a^^-^- •' "-''•'='1- ed in the beloved ; *' 
"justified from all things'* : ve could never have 

been justified by ov;: : lame attempts at : V ce ; jus- 
tified simply and pure.y m virtue of what Christ nas done 



THE TEUE SOUKCE OF WISDOM. 211 

and suffered for us ; justified, i. 6., we are considered just 
in law, viewed and treated as if we had never sinned. Our 
" sins and iniquities " are to be " remembered no more " 
against us. 

We are, if possible, in a better condition than the angels 
that have never sinned, or than Adam before he fell. For 
the jDcrfect and infinite righteousness of Christ, active and 
passive, is now imputed to us, while we believe ; and we 
are owned as beloved children for His sake, whom He will 
one day introduce to His Father in language like this : '' Be- 
hold, I and the children whom Thou hast given me." There- 
fore He said to His disciples, shortly before His departure, 
" I go to my Father and to your Father, and to my God 
and to your God." Hence, the apostle might well say of 
those who stand so high in favor w4th God : " All things 
are yours ; whether Paul, or Apollos, or Cephas ; or the 
world, or life, or death ; or things present, or things to 
come : all are yours ; and ye are Christ's, and Christ is 
God's." 

Now, when God has done all this for us, when He has ex- 
pressed His supreme satisfaction in His beloved Son, and 
when it is the will and desire of Christ that His disciples 
should share in all His honors, need we fear that God would 
withhold any good thing from us, that we need and humbly 
request in the name of Christ, with thanksgiving for past 
and present mercies. It would be treason against the 
majesty of God to suspect such a thing. And having the 
positive assurance on the part of God, confirmed by the ex- 
perience of all His people, that He will perform to the last 
tittle all that He has promised, what greater encouragement 
can we require or even imagine, than He has so graciously 
given us ? Hence it is plain that all that is required on 
our part is faith ; a strong and practical conviction of the 



212 THE TRUE SOUECE OT WISDOM. 

veracity of God, and 3. firm trust in His iro-'^e; so that 
we sho::"'a s::-::er ^i::-': rlirve the ev:^r::ee oi our own 
senses, ti :; : ih:::;: - -h_ :— ; i whether God will 
indeed be as good as His word. And where this principle 
has once take : in the so ih there the closest com- 
munion lias bccij cMau i-h-d ht^ -n sicb an individual and 
his Maker and Redeemer, a. th i _h change has passed 
over him. He is :\: i:::^er of the earth. He n? longer 
idolizes th- '-^-^rid and seitl nor seeks his haoion-r-s li'oni 
earthly g; :;::h:i:ions. h::t has chosen Go i and His tavor, 
Christ an A His service lov his portion. With Paul he Is 
"crucified to the world and the world to him.'* He es- 
teems himsrlfi no .^o hut a " stranger and s:''oo-"" on 
earth: his " hfe is hii with Christ in God h' wn^i £ie now 
lives, he livr- hy :hr :hi:h of tiir S:n oh God who hath loved 
him and given Himstrlf h:: him. Ht- firds oor c: c-trainiug 
power of the h:ve of Chri^: : heiscarriri! "' 'T 
a mi:^ht^ cnrr-nt, His scol has ^ot in"' [-,'\ _ ;o. : ..._ al 






grace, he can t^-tiry :: cti^c: - :: :h-r . fo:;h:.:y a;, f ^ o.:...,.:y 
of the divine promises if only once emhraiced by faith; and 
th' ' ■ "e all that we need ^ ^he fuUness of 

g.:,:. .,_ . .. ;.:.._ h:a: i^ in Christ hy r- :^^. 

This ccnstioatrs cne main difihrrn- n the law and 

th- :r:-yel: that v:-hiie th;- " says. " ^ live,^ 

the emrr says. -' ask and ye ^. - - hvr." Ac. _:::_": me 

makes it a duty even to lay down our li^^s f. r the hrtthren, 
it renders all things ea^sy to us, for God Himself has en- 
gaged by promise and by oath to work all this hi us if we 



THE TRUE SOURCE OF WISDOM. 213 

but ask for His aid. He can deny us absolutely nothing 
that is necessary for our perfection and final salvation. 
Thus we have the most absolute certainty of obtaining those 
things that we ask for, while we ask for what is according 
to His will, and what He has pledged Himself to do in 
us, and for us. But this is His will, even our sanctification. 
And in order to this we need divine wisdom. And when 
we ask for this in earnest, we shall receive. 

But some may say, this is all very well when spoken to 
Christians. But what right have I to claim these promises ? 
If such objections proceed from honest doubts, and not as 
they commonly do from a mere captious and rebellious 
spirit, they are deserving of an answer and may be readily 
removed, if those who entertain such fears will but listen to 
the plain and solemn declarations of God in His word. 

It has sometimes been said that there are no promises to 
sinners, and that they have no encouragement to pray. If 
by this is meant that there is no promise to the impenitent 
while they continue such, we perfectly agree with it. But 
then it is a truism that no one in his senses would for a mo- 
ment dispute, and may have been employed for the purpose 
of terrifying obstinate offenders and driving them to repent- 
ance ; though whether it is likely to have such an effect 
is another question. 

But that there are promises addressed to the wicked on 
condition that they repent and turn to God, lies on the face 
of Scripture. I need but to refer to that one passage in 
the fifty-fifth chapter of Isaiah, which has no doubt been 
the means of reclaiming more than one wandering prodigal, 
where it is said, " Let the wicked forsake his way, and the 
unrighteous man his thoughts, and let him return unto the 
Lord and He will have mercy upon him, and to our God 
for He will abundantly pardon." And is not the language 



214 THE TEUE SOUECE OF T^'ISDOil. 

of our text sufficiently general ? ^* If any of you lack wis- 
dom let him ask of God who giveth to all men liberally.*' 
All that is requisite to entitle you to ask, is that you should 
be sensible of your need, and sensible that none but God is 
capable of supplying this your need ; further that you 
have so much confidence in God, that He will be as good 
as His word. As St. John observes, " We receive the wit- 
ness of men; the witness of God is greater/' If we believe 
many things on the authority of men, ought we not much 
rather to believe what God has so solemnly asserted. '' Yea, 
let God be true and every man a liar;" i. e., let us believe 
Him, though it should turn out that we must then consider 
all men as liars. 

And God esteems Himself honored by such faith, such 
simple trust in His veracity. Thus we read: ''Abraham 
believed God, and He counted it to him for righteousness.*' 
This, in short, is the fundamental principle on our part of 
our acceptance with God. It rests itself on the complete 
atonement rendered by the Lord Jesus Christ. Therefore, 
this is the chief thing for us to believe in order to salvation ; 
as the apostle says, "If thou shalt confess with thy moith 
the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thy heart ih:*t God 
hath raised Him from the dead, thou shalt be saved.*' 

But the principle is the same in all cases of faith. It 
is always believing a thmg because God hath sa: ' ' i:d 
for that reason- only. If, like Thomas, we wi.. l^irve 
only so far as we see, we fall short of true, saving faith. 
The question is whether God is worthy or not of our con- 
fidence ; whether He demands too much when He requires 
faith as the condition of His favor. And if this is not an 
impossible, nor unreasonable requirement, then what ex- 
cuse can we give for not complying with it ? And if we 
still refuse and die in our sins, on whom will the blame of 



l^HE TRUE SOUECE OF WISDOM. 215 

our condemnation fall but on ourselves? True, guilt is 
timorous. When Adam had sinned, he tried to hide him- 
self behind the trees of the garden. . But mercy followed 
him there. " Adam where art thou ?" And so does mercy 
to this day follow the sinner, calling him some times in a 
voice of terror to bring him to reflection, at other times in 
accents of pity and gentleness, to woo him back to duty 
and to God. 

And will you not listen to this gracious voice, saying unto 
you, as to Israel of old : " Return ye backsliding children 
and I will heal your backslidings. Return unto me and I 
will return unto you ?" Is it not time for us to answer : 
*' Behold we come unto Thee, for Thou art the Lord our 
God. Truly in vain is salvation hoped for from the hills, 
and from the multitude of mountains ; truly in the Lord 
our God is the salvation of Israel." 

Take care that you do not. imitate the conduct of Ahaz 
the wricked king of Judah, who when the Lord gave him 
leave to ask for a sign of the truth of what He had prom- 
ised, pretended that he would not tempt the Lord. Thus 
sinners, when the rich promises of God are presented for 
their acceptance, are wont to grow very pious all of a sud- 
den, and do not think themselves suitable subjects for such 
promises. But do they suppose that God can not see 
through their flimsy pretenses, and discover the enmity 
concealed under them, when short-sighted creatures like 
themselves can so easily understand them ? 

All such disguises will one day be stripped ofl* from men, 
and they will have to stand in their naked deformity before 
the world, and what is infinitely worse, will have to endure 
the searching glance of their despised Saviour who will now 
be their Judge. How much better were it for them, now 
to humble themselves under the mighty hand of God, to 



216 THE TRUE SOUKCE OF WISDOM. 

accept the offered pardon, and to pray for that wisdom 
Avhich He alone can give, and which He is so ready to give 
liberally to all that ask. Consider, too, that for this you 
have an express promise. This is the thing you most need, 
and which God is most ready to bestow. 

Temporal blessings we may pray for, it is true, but it 
must always be under the condition, that God sees it to be 
best. Here is no proviso attached, only that we should ask 
in earnest, and really desire the things we pray for. To ex- 
cite this desire in our minds requires a certain preparation of 
heart. In the first place, we must be attentive to the striv- 
ings of the Holy Spirit. Without the influences of this 
sacred agent no good thought or feeling would ever arise in 
our breast. But His gracious operations ever accompany the 
faithful preaching of the word ; only that many quench the 
feelings thus excited in the bud. They give themselves up 
so entirely to the fascinations and promises of the world, 
that no good thought can spring up and come to ripeness in 
their souls. 

Instead of pursuing so injurious a course, if they would 
set about it in earnest to reform, they would not fail to ob- 
tain all needed aid, by only applying for it in the right way. 
But it is necessary that they should take pains to inform 
themselves by inquiring of those who have experience in 
such matters, or by studying that word which God has given 
us as a chart by which to steer our bark for the wished for 
haven, safe from the rocks and quicksands that lie in our 
course. They should compare their conduct and principles 
and whole course of life, with the standard of the Bible, 
not with the false standard of the world. "They" says the 
apostle, speaking of such, " measuring themselves by them- 
selves, and comparing themselves among themselves, are 
not wise." We should study that pure, and holy, and just 



THE TRUE SOURCE OF WISDOM. 217 

law, which is the transcript of the divine raind, and thus 
notice where and how far we fall short. We should bear in 
mind that man was originally created in the image of God, 
which was lost by transgression ; and that to restore this 
image in the soul was the great object for which the Son ot 
God came on earth, and if this fails to be effected in any 
one, then so far the coming of Christ was in vain for such 
a one, and he is worse off than if no Saviour had ever been 
sent; but only through his own fault and perverseness. 

Further, we ought to meditate upon the many " exceed- 
ing great and precious promises " which are given us in 
Christ ; and particularly, we ought to study the record of 
His benevolent and laborious life, and cruel and vicarious 
death, in order that we may realize at once the depth of 
degradation and ruin into Avhich man was fallen, to need 
such a redemption, and the infinite love of God that He 
should give up His only and well-beloved Son for the sal- 
vation of such a race of rebels as we are ; and the infinite 
benevolence of Christ that moved Him to offer Himself 
voluntarily for the desperate task of saving men, saying, 
" Lo, I come, in the volume of the book it is written of me, 
to do thy will, O God." Let the consideration of His 
great love, so free and undeserved, exert its due weight 
upon our minds. Let it lead us to a grateful and entire 
surrender of ourselves to His service and honor. Let us 
form the noble resolution to forsake all our evil ways, and 
to return unto the Lord from ^vhom we have so basely 
revolted, with humble, penitent confession of sin, and an 
earnest prayer for pardon. 

And having found pardon and peace, let us ask for that 
wisdom which we so much need, assured that every one 
that asketh shall receive, provided only we " ask in faith, 
nothing wavering." 

10 



218 THE TKUE SOUKCE OF WISDOM. 

In order to this let us seek to have right views of God 
and His holy character, as revealed in Scripture and in the 
work of His hands. Let us bear in mind that now is our 
accepted time, now is the day of grace and salvation. "To- 
day if ye will hear His voice harden not your hearts." To- 
morrow it may be too late. God may have sworn in His 
wrath — " They shall not enter into my rest." Then, no power 
in heaven or earth can save us from the wrath of the Lamb, 
and from the fierce, fiery indignation that shall devour all 
the adversaries. " Be wise now, then, ye simple ones; " and 
if any of you lack wisdom let him ask of God. Amen. 



SERMON XIII. 

THE IMPORTANCE OF PRESENT DECISION ON THE SUBJECT 
OF RELIGION. 

"Wherefore, as the Holy Ghost saith, To-day if ye will hear His voice."-— 
Hebrews, iii. "?. 

Many causes might be assigned why persons, who have 
been partially affected by divine truth, have failed of arriv- 
ing at a true and lasting conversion. Some are inextricably 
involved in the cares and pleasures of this life, so that they 
can not be induced to tear themselves loose, even by the 
threatened danger of eventual and final ruin. Others are 
deterred by the fear of the world's sneer,' or by the desire 
of the world's honors, from taking up their cross to follow 
Christ. While in some cases it seems to be sheer indolence, 
and an aversion to any thing like the violent effort which 
religion demands of those who would enter her courts. 

In all these instances, and others that might be mentioned, 
a powerful inducement to delay the necessary work of re- 
pentance, will be found to lie in the persuasion but too 
common with the unconverted, that there is no pressing 
need of haste; that another day will serve as well as the 
present; that it is desirable to be better prepared for a 
work of so much importance as conversion is acknowledged 
to be ; so that they will rather wait for a more favorable 
opportunity. A persuasion of this kind will be found to 
have caused the ruin of thousands, who but for its lulling 



220 THE IMPOETANCE OF PEESEXT DECISION 

influence might have been saved. As every age is liable to 
this dangerous temptation, it will not be useless to seek to 
guard our hearers against it, and to warn these, especially, 
that are yet in an miregenerate state, to lose no time to flee 
from the wrath to come. 

This we shall endeavor, by the aid of divine grace, to do 
by occasion of the warning given by the apostle to his 
countrymen, in the w^ords which he quotes from the 95th 
Psalm, '' Wherefore," says he, " as the Holy Ghost saith, 
To-day if ye will hear His voice ; " from which we shall 
derive as the theme for our discourse : 

The iaipoetaxce of peesext decision on the subject 
of eeligion. 

May the Lord enable us to present the matter to your 
minds in a way that may be profitable ! 

Duty, Gratitude and Interest combine to urge every one 
who has not yet come to a decision, to lose no time in turn- 
ing to God with his whole heart. 

It is a matter of Duty, God, who has created us, who 
has given us all our faculties, who has preserved us in life 
thus far, and has daily loaded us w^ith benefits: our gracious 
Father, our Lawgiver and Judge, requires and deserves 
our best services. To Him we ow^e ourselves and all that 
we have. And after having for so long a time refused Him 
our love and disobeyed His commands — surely, if we yet 
hear His voice, it becomes us to return at once to our alle- 
giance. But He has expressly required it at our hands. 
Xot only does He address us in the language of our text, 
saying still by His word and spirit, "To-day, if ye will 
hear His voice," but He has issued the most positive com- 
mand to the same eflfect, as w^e read : " The times of ignor- 
ance God wdnked at, but now commandeth all men every- 
where to repent." 



ox THE SUBJECT OF KELIGION. 221 

If, then, we have any reverence for the authority of our 
Maker, we must be sensible that we ought at once to return 
like the repenting prodigal, confessing our sin, and taking 
shame to ourselves for our past undutifulness. Every mo- 
ment of dehiy is an additional insult to our gracious and 
reconciled God, who has already waited so long, and so pa- 
tiently for our return ; who has been drawing us by cords 
of gentleness and loving-kindness, when we were rebelling 
against His authority, and adding injury to injury. Unless 
with the scoffer we deny His authority over us, and with a 
Pharaoh ask, " Who is the Lord that I should obey His 
voice," will we not stand self-condemned, so long as we re- 
fuse to repent and to bring forth fruits meet for repentance ? 
What plea could we jmt in, if sentence were even now 
pronounced against us for obstinate and willful disobedience 
to the divine commands, and for the slight put upon the 
divine authority ? 

Conscience tells every one that has not in earnest turned 
to the Lord, that he is in a frame of mind, and engaged in 
a course of conduct that renders him amenable to the sen- 
tence of the divine law, which says, '' The soul that sinneth 
it shall die." And an ordinary share of reason is sufficient 
to convince such an individual that on a question of pure 
law, he must be cast, and if the sentence is put in force, 
must be consigned to endless misery. 

True, men seek by all manner of sophistries and contri- 
vances, to avoid coming to this conclusion. They will ar- 
gue from the acknowledged benevolence of God, that He 
will not meet the offenses of our short Uves on earth with 
endless punishment. But they forget that the question re- 
gards not sim2)ly the act as such, but the disposition from 
which it flows, and of which it is the outward manifestation. 
And even taking the act by itself, as an injury done to the 



222 THE IMPORTANCE OF PRESENT DECISION 

claims of a God of infinite perfections, and as affecting the 
welfare of the whole rational universe, it is deserving of al] 
the punishment that may be inflicted. They do not con- 
sider, in short, that the authority of God as the Governor of 
the universe, and of His holy law, according to which the 
rational subjects of God are to be judged ; requires that 
condign punishment should be inflicted for every, even the 
very first infringement of the law. 

But without entering into a long course of argumenta- 
tion on the subject, it is sufficient to refer it to every one's 
own conscience. 

The feeling of uneasiness which fills every mind capable 
of reasoning, at the thought of having to meet God in judg- 
ment, pronounces a sentence which no sophistry can set 
aside. The feeling of guilt could never have entered the 
breast of man, were he innocent ; and while this feeling has 
possession of the heart, no sincere friendship can subsist 
between the creature and its injured Maker. 

But how is this sense of guilt to be removed ? To this 
question, the most important that can occupy the mind of 
man, or indeed of the highest created intelligence, no sat- 
isfactory answer has ever been discovered, only as God in 
His infinite kindness has been pleased to reveal the same in 
His word. 

By a plan devised by infinite wisdom, joined with infinite 
benevolence, a plan that dates back to the counsels of eter- 
nity, God has opened a way in which He '' can be just and 
the justifier of him that believeth." Foreseeing that man 
would fall from his original integrity, God determined, after 
the good pleasure of His own will, uninfluenced by any ex- 
traneous motive (which, indeed, can not even be supposed to 
have existed), to provide a Saviour for our lost race. The 
eternal Son, the second j)erson of the divine Trinity, vol- 



ON THE SUBJECT OF RELIGION. 223 

untarily consented to take upon Him our nature, to enter 
the ranks of the human family, to recover our forfeited 
privileges by means of His own sufferings and death, and 
to become the Author of everlasting life to as many as 
believed on His name. 

By His perfect obedience to the holy law that we had 
broken. He made it honorable, He maintained its claims be- 
fore the intelligent universe ; showing that it was deserving 
of the utmost regard. For, indeed, to obey the law, what 
is it but to show our reverence for the Lawgiver ? And by 
His vicarious endurance of the penalty pronounced upon 
transgression, considering the infinite dignity of His per- 
son. He has abundantly compensated for the affront put 
upon God and His law, by the transgression of man. And 
now "He is become the Author of eternal salvation, to as 
many as obey Him." Our w^hole cause, as well as the 
claims of God, is committed to His hands. To all that put 
themselves under His direction, He is a complete and suffi- 
cient Saviour. 

In virtue of His all-perfect work, God has caused a com- 
plete amnesty to be published, for all such as will return to 
their allegiance within the allotted period of their proba- 
tion. "He now commandeth all men every where to re- 
pent," because repentance is possible for all, and will, in all 
eases where it is sincere, be followed by a free and full par- 
don on the part of God ; a complete restitution to all the 
rights of citizenship in the kingdom of God ; to a share in 
all the blessings of that new covenant founded upon better 
promises than the old. 

God has given us every assurance of His kind intentions, 
by sending His only begotten Son into the world : " not 
that He should condemn the world, but that the world 
through Him mio-ht be saved." We have no reason to 



224 THE IMPORTANCE OF PRESENT DECISION 

fear being rejected, if in humility and contrition of soul we 
approach the mercy-seat. '' God was in Christ reconciling 
the world unto Himself, not imputing their trespasses unto 
them ;" He has removed by His own sovereign and gra- 
cious act, that obstacle to our restoration which His justice 
presented — so that He does not violate the faintest claims 
of righteousness, when He receives the believing sinner into 
favor. Christ has purchased the possession of the inheri- 
tance for us. He has paid off at His sole expense every 
claim that could be brought against it, and now with royal 
munificence does He bestow it upon His followers. And 
whoever will^ may enlist among this number* 

But all this kindness and compassion of our heavenly 
Father and of our magnanimous Deliverer ought surely to 
weigh as an additional motive upon our minds, to fill us 
with reverence for His commands and to excite an irresist- 
ible desire to prove our devotion by the most implicit obe- 
dience to His commands, even where they may seem diffi- 
cult or should it appear to us even unreasonable. Yet surely 
there is nothing unreasonable in the command to repent, to 
leave off doing wrong, to confess our faults, and to strive to 
do better. There is nothing hard in the command to be- 
lieve in the Lord Jesus Christ ; to accept His proffered me- 
diation ; to receive the glad announcement that for His sake 
God is willing to forget all that is past, to receive us into 
favor and adopt us into His holy and happy family, as His 
beloved children ; to make us sharers in all the riches of His 
grace and love ; to supply our every want here below ; to 
carry us safely through the dark valley of the shadow of 
death, and to shed upon us through a long eternity all the 
wealth of His paternal kindness and love. 

There is nothing in all this that is calculated to make us 
unhappy. Rather it is the want of this feeling of the favor 



ON THE SUBJECT OF RELIGION. 225 

of God that is the great source of all our misery. And the 
longer we continue unreconciled, the more miserable we 
must perforce become. Could the child of a wise and affec- 
tionate father, that on the spur of passion had forsaken its 
home, feel easy and satisfied while roaming about, with the 
consciousness of its undutiful and ungrateful conduct, espe- 
cially, too, when repeatedly pressed to return, and assured 
that it should be received into its former condition of love 
and favor ? 

Even such are the feelings of every one that continues to 
live in an unrepentant state. And can this be esteemed 
either a safe or happy state ? And how long should any 
one wait when convinced that such is his condition, before 
he strives with all his might to get out of it ? 

That it is not agreeable to the will of God that such an 
unhappy relation should subsist for a day longer between 
the sinner redeemed by the blood of Christ and his Maker, 
we may learn from the text, "Wherefore, as the Holy 
Ghost saith, To-day if ye will hear His voice." 

Here is a gracious invitation as well as a command and 
a solemn warning. It is as if He said : To-day if you will, 
you may obey the gracious call to return ; to-morrow it 
may be too late. " Be wise to-day," as one has said, " 'tis 
madness to defer. Next day the fatal precedent will 
plead. Thus on till wisdom is pushed out of life." 

Thus not only out of reverence for the authority and 
command of God ought we to obey at once, not only duty but 
Gratitude requires it. How kind and winning is that voice 
that addresses the children of men from the sanctuary : 
"Unto you, O men, I call, and my voice is to the sons of 
man. O ye simple understand wisdom, and ye fools be ye 
of an understanding heart." But you say you have not the 
desire for these things, and can you give it to yourselves ? 

10* 



226 THE IMPOETAlSrCE OF PRESENT DECISION. 

Therefore God has provided all that is needed. You have 
but to ask for it in order to obtain to the full a supply of all 
your wants. " The kingdom of heaven is like unto a certain 
kino; which made a marriao-e for his son and sent forth his 
servants to call them that were bidden to the wedding, and 
they would not come. Again he sent forth other servants 
saying, tell them which are bidden, Behold I have pre- 
pared my dinner : my oxen and my fatlings are killed and 
all things are ready, come unto the marriage." 

"When God gives, He gives liberally and upbraideth 
not." And what He gives is just what we most need, par- 
don of our sins ; a full and free acquittal from all guilt, and 
the sanctifying influences of His Holy Spirit, together with 
the witness to our spirit that we are accepted in the Be- 
. loved. 

And all this you may each one enjoy and enjoy it this 
moment, provided only you from your hearts believe the 
record which God hath given of His Son. If you believe, 
I say, the kind purposes of God towards our race, and to- 
wards you individually as one of the race ; if you suffer 
those powerful motives to influence you which the cross of 
Christ presents, and if you admit the gracious influences of 
the Spirit into your inmost souls. 

And is there not cause for gratitude and rejoicing here? 
Should you not at once obey so kind a command with which 
your best interests are so intimately connected ? For, as 
we said in the beginning of our discourse, not only rever- 
ence and gratitude but even Interest demands that you 
should obey the command contained in our text, and decide 
at once to come over to the Lord's side. Your whole na- 
ture, as it came from the hands of God — not as it has been 
corrupted by sin — but especially the spiritual part of it, re- 
quires that you should turn, and turn at once to the Lord. 



ON THE SUBJECT OF RELIGION. 227 

When God made man, in the image of God made He him. 
And why ? That he might hold the most affectionate and 
delightful communion with his gracious Maker. For this 
every chord of his heart, every fiber of his system was at- 
tuned. 

And it is only by the restoration of this original harmony 
that God can be satisfied and man be happy. God was not 
so unwise as to leave open a source of bliss to the creature, 
apart from a proper state of the heart towards its chief 
good and highest end. 

Why was it that the ancient world sought so long and so 
earnestly for the chief good, though without ever coming 
to any decision, but because man was alienated from his 
Maker by wicked w^orks, and felt that he was not in that 
state that he ought to be, but knew not where and how to 
find it ? 

But what human wisdom could never have discovered 
God has revealed in His word. And now w^e may find 
true happiness if we will but seek it from God. We may 
have our natures renewed, restored, sanctified by the power 
of the Holy Ghost, who is given to all that believe in the 
Lord Jesus Christ. ^'The love of God shed abroad in the 
heart" is the only thing that can subdue and eradicate that 
selfishness which is natural to fallen man, and thus bring 
him into the intended relation tow^ards God and his fellow- 
creatures. Then, when our will is brought into conformity 
with the will of God, as made known by His law, our 
course becomes steady and consistent; the heart, sympa- 
thizing with the whole constitution of things, as arranged 
by the Great Artificer, feels an unwonted peace and joy ; 
the language of the prophet describes its sensations where 
he promises to the repentant sinner the joys of His salva- 
tion, saying, " Te shall go out with joy and be led forth 



228 THE IMPORTANCE OF PEESENT DECISION 

with peace ; the mountains and the hills shall break forth 
before you into singing, and all the trees of the wood shall 
clap their hands." The regenerated soul experiences all the 
flush of restored health and renovated youth, and wonders 
how it could so long remain away from its Father's house 
and its Saviour's embrace. 

Though the restoration is not complete, for much imper- 
fection will always cling to us so long as we are in this 
world, and indeed the trial of our virtue is a necessary 
part of our probation on earth ; yet the change is so great 
from a state of enmity to one of reconciliation and grateful 
attachment, that it may well be called a new creation. 
Nothing short of divine power and grace could have ac- 
complished the work of renewing the soul, and reclaiming 
the wandering prodigal, and bringing him back to the fold 
of God. 

At the same time this change, wonderful as it is, and ever 
to be ascribed to the mere grace of God, is not brought 
about without the consent of the subject. Therefore does 
the Holy Spirit in His word, as well as by His secret influ- 
ences upon the heart of the sinner, call upon him to repent, 
to make himself a new heart, to return to God and duty, 
and it is for man to hear, to listen and obey. Though he 
has no power to renew his soul by his own will, and to 
change the current of his desires and afi*ections, he has the 
power of resisting the gracious influences of the Spirit, of 
closing his heart to the motives which the gospel presents 
— or, on the other hand, to cease from this resistance, and 
to throw himself into the arms of infinite mercy ; so that 
w^hile all the praise of the w^ork is due to God and to God 
alone, there is something for man to do, and unless he does 
this he will never be saved. But what he is called upon to 
do is not to seek to save himself by his own efibrts, but 



ON TDE SUBJECT OF RELIGION. 229 

rather that, despairing of himself, he should cast himself 
simply upon the mercy of Christ. " O Israel," says the 
Lord, " thou hast destroyed thyself, but in me is thy help." 
The more we feel our own weakness, the more welcome 
will the Saviour be ; the more sensible we are of our ex- 
ceeding sinfulness and ill-desert, the more highly shall we 
prize the kind mediation of the Friend of sinners. 

The first step towards a thorough conversion must ever 
be the conviction that "we are by nature children of wrath," 
" enemies by reason of wicked works," and of wicked 
hearts ; outlaws from the kingdom of God, under sentence 
of condemnation by that righteous law which we have bro- 
ken continually in one way or another, in thought, word or 
deed ; or at any rate, by the whole bent of our natural dis- 
position and desires ; '' for the carnal mind is enmity against 
God, for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed 
can be." 

Even when the unregenerate performs an action that is 
outwardly and formally right, it will be found wanting in 
the principle from which it proceeds. It will be performed 
from a selfish motive, or at least not from the right motive, 
not from regard for God and His honor and law. Hence it 
can not merit the divine approbation, however praiseworthy 
it may appear in the eyes of men. But it is evidently our 
interest that our lives and actions should be based upon 
right principles, and therefore that the springs of action, 
the desires, and emotions, and will — in one word — the 
heart should be right. But nothing is so easy as to be de- 
ceived in regard to the true state of our heart ; according 
to the testimony of God by the prophet, " The heart is 
deceitful above all things and desperately wicked, who can 
know it?" We have learnt an important lesson in the 



230 THE IMPORTANCE OF PRESENT DECISION 

knowledge of ourselves if we have learned to distrust our 
own heart. 

In order to form a correct opinion of our true state of 
mind, we must compare ourselves with the standard of the 
divine word and not with the false standards of w^orldly 
morality. If we sincerely examine into the state of our 
hearts, praying at the same time for the enlightening influ- 
ences of the Holy Spirit, and studying that word which is 
given us to be " a light to our feet and a lamp to our path," 
w^e shall not fail to discover that much is wrong, and by 
continuing the search, with an honest determination to 
come at the truth, how unpleasant soever the discovery 
may be, we shall arrive at the conviction that all the wheels 
of the spiritual machine are out of order ; that our internal 
frame is completely deranged, and that nothing short of 
divine power can restore it. And is it not our interest then 
to attend to the kind, parental warning of our text, when 
the Holy Ghost says, " If ye will hear my voice." 

How deeply we are all of us interested in this matter will 
still further appear, if we consider, as we intend now to do, 
though with great brevity, the danger connected with delay 
in the all important matter of deciding whether we will be 
on the Lord's side or not. 

This will be evident, if we consider that by such delay 
w^e provoke the Lord to swear, as He once did respecting a 
large proportion of the Israelites — the very example held 
up for our warning by the apostle, as well as by the Psalm- 
ist whom he quotes. They had seen the miracles wrought 
for them by the hand of Moses, when they were led through 
the Red Sea as on dry ground, and fed in the wilderness 
where corn would not grow, by a daily supply of manna 
from the clouds. They had experienced the gracious inter- 
position of Jehovah in their war with the Amalekites, and 



ON THE SUBJECT OF RELIGION. 231 

were conducted on their march through the desert by the 
pillar of cloud and of fire, the visible symbol of the divine 
presence. Yet after all these displays of the power and 
goodness of God on their behalf, when they were at length 
commanded to go up and take the land of Canaan in pos- 
session, they refused to go forward, being terrified by the 
report of the spies whom they had sent to examine the land. 
Then it was that the patience of Jehovah being exhausted, 
"He sware in His wrath that they should not enter into 
His rest." 

And this warning example is expressly held up both in 
the Old and New Testaments, to put others on their guard 
lest they should " fall after the same example of unbelief." 
We learn from it that though " God is long suffering to us- 
ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should 
come to repentance," yet there are bounds to this long-suf- 
fering, and that when He is too long and too often pro- 
voked, His wrath may be kindled suddenly, and then who 
can deliver us out of His hand ? 

"It is, indeed, a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the 
living God." Infinitely better were it to have all created 
beings our enemies, ^o that God be our friend, than to have 
Him for our enemy though all the world were on our side: 
better to endure all that the malice of men or devils can in- 
flict, than to fall under the curse of Jehovah : better to be 
persecuted from city to city and to find no rest on earth for 
the sole of our foot, and at last to have to expire at the 
stake or in the most loathsome dungeon, if we but share in 
the rest of heaven and of God at last, than to enjoy the 
])leasures of sin and all the glories of the world and its 
kingdoms — to lie down at last in sorrow and despair. Bet- 
ter to lose our life here for Christ and His cause that we 
may find eternal life hereafter, than to find life here and 
then lose it for ever. 



232 THE IMPOETANCE OF PRESENT DECISION 

But there is a second danger to be feared if we delay our 
repentance to a future day, which, though essentially the 
same is deserving of a separate consideration. I mean that 
by such delay we may grieve the Holy Spirit and cause 
Him to depart from us. It is only by the quickening power 
of the divine Spirit that new life can be infused into our 
spiritual frame. He that said, "Let there be light and 
there was light,^' is alone able to breathe the breath of spir- 
itual life into the soul that is " dead in sins and trespasses." 
Long and patiently does the Holy Spirit strive with man. 
He says, " Behold I stand at the door and knock, if any 
man hear my voice and open the door, I will come in to 
him and sup with him and he with me." Or as our text 
has it: as the Holy Ghost saith, "To-day if ye will hear 
my voice." 

But when, you may ask, do we hear this voice ? I an- 
swer, you hear it whenever divine truth, whether in read- 
ing the word or in hearing it proclaimed, makes an impres- 
sion upon your mind. It is the Spirit of God that must 
bring home the truth to your conscience, or it would have 
no effect. It is His office to restore a measure of sensibility 
to your souls, or they would remain ui^pioved by the most 
solemn appeals, or the most tremendous threatenings, or the 
most awful examples of divine judgments. 

If, then, there is any feeling left in your hearts, when di- 
vine truth is presented to your understanding, this is a proof 
that the Holy Spirit has not entirely forsaken you. Be 
thankful and improve the golden opportunity. Soon, if you 
put off your conversion to a future day, soon, v^ery soon, 
may all these impressions wear off and nothing " remain" 
to you "but a certain fearful looking for of judgment and 
fiery indignation, which shall devour the adversaries." 

Shall it be said of you as of Jerusalem of old, " Oh that 



ON THE SUBJECT OF RELIGION. 233 

thou hadst known, even thou, at least in this thy day, the 
things that work for thy peace ; but now are they hidden 
from thine eyes !" Over you shall the Saviour weep, as He 
did over that ill-flited city, because you have not known the 
day of your visitation ? To-day, then, if ye will be wise hear 
His voice. This may be the very last call of mercy that 
you shall ever receive, so that if this be suffered to pass un- 
improved, your fate henceforth w^ill be sealed, and nothing 
left for you but the blackness of darkness for ever. '*' Oh, 
that they were wise ; that they w^ould consider these things ! 
How long ye simple ones will ye love simplicity, and the 
scorners delight in their scorning, and fools hate knowl- 
edge ?" 

But, even admitting that the Spirit should not yet with- 
draw His sacred influences, and God still exercise patience 
and long-suffering in your behalf, there is a tTiird danger to 
which you are exposing yourselves by your dilatoriness and 
delay. That is, that your hearts will be hardened. Hence, 
you are expressly warned against this sad result, as it will 
be more directly your own act. " Harden not your hearts 
as in the provocation, in the day of temptation in the wil- 
derness." 

Thiis hardening of the sinner's heart, is of two kinds ; ac- 
tive and passive. The former is when by an act of the will, 
the convictions wrought by the Holy Spirit are purposely 
suppressed ; when a man consciously resists the gracious 
influences sent to soften his heart. Such a course can not 
be long pursued without the most dreadful consequences. 
Thus did Pharaoh harden his heart and draw down signal 
judgments upon himself and his land. 

But without going to this length ; by merely neglecting 
to do what we know to be our duty, we are as certainly, 
though not as suddenly, hardening our heart. In short, if 



234 THE IMPOETANCE OF PRESENT DECISION 

you this moment know that you ought to repent and turn 
to God, and do not do it at once, you are in fact hardening 
your heart, and exposing yourselves to the merited doom 
of the despisers of God's grace. And, in all probability, a 
good part of those who have heard the gospel for years 
without being brought to smcere repentance are just in this 
condition, and no one can say whether God will see fit to 
employ extraordinary methods to bring them to repentance 
or not; whether the Holy Spirit, having been so often 
grieved, may not have taken His final flight, and God have 
already passed His oath in the courts of heaven that these 
despisers shall never taste of His supper. 

Consider, too, that none have ever regretted that they 
have begun too young to serve the Lord, or that they have 
been too devoted and earnest in His service. Christ is a 
generous as well as a strict Master. He knows what allow- 
ance to make for our weakness, where there is but an ear- 
nest desire to please and obey Him. And He will give us 
a reward at last commensurate, not with our feeble efforts to 
promote His cause, but with His own rich grace. 

As Lord of the universe, He is at no loss for means to 
enrich His subjects. Of His faithful servants, one He will 
set over ten cities, another over five, and so on according to 
the degree of their fidelity, but vastly beyond their utmost 
desert or expectation. None will then fail of obtaining a 
rich reward for all that he has done or suffered for Christ. 
And even in the present life, though it is not intended to 
be the place of final retribution which is reserved unto the 
great day, the Lord is ever present with His people, afford- 
ing them such aid in every time of need, and such manifes- 
tations of His grace and favor, as will enable them to hold 
on their way to the end. His grace is ever sufficient, and 
nothing but a willful departing from Him can endanger the 



ON THE SUBJECT OF EELIGIOIST. 235 

salvation of a believer. " The just shall live by his faith, 
but if he draw back my soul shall have no pleasure in him." 

Amidst all their trials, which are often severe but always 
necessary and profitable, the disciples of Christ will expe- 
rience that they have a kind and compassionate High Priest 
who is not untouched with the feeling of their infirmities, 
but was in all points tempted like as they are, yet without 
sin ;" one that can sympathize with them and who is able 
to help in every time of need. 

But it is necessary that their faith should be tested and 
their spiritual senses exercised by use, in order that they 
may acquire strength', and grow up to the full stature of a 
man in Christ Jesus. Never shall they be put upon any 
service that, exceeds their strength, nor be exposed to any 
temptation but that there will be a way provided for their 
escape. It is only in laboring and suffering that our virtue 
can be shown and increased. The devoted soldier of the 
cross esteems it an honor to be employed on the post of 
danger. It stimulates him to greater exertions, and a more 
thorough consecration of himself and all he has to the ser- 
vice and honor of the great Captain of salvation. 

If any is moved by the reasons we have given to make 
an immediate surrender of himself to Christ, let me admon- 
ish him yet, before I close my address, to be sure to be in 
earnest, to make no reserve either of a part of his affections 
or of his time. Let him not play the foolish part that some 
do, of making trial for awhile, to see how they may like the 
service of Christ, with the understanding that if they do 
not find it to their mind they will go back again. 

Till you feel that you must have Christ or perish, you 
will not in earnest choose Him for your portion. Till you 
are prepared to forsake all and follow Him, you are not fit 
for the kingdom of God. This He has told us Himself. 



236 THE IMPOETAXCE OF PEESEXT DECISIOX. 

''Xo maD," says He, "having laid hands to the plow and 
looking back, is fit for the kingdom of heaven." He may 
seem to run well enough for a while ; he may join a Chris- 
tian society and remain recorded on its list of members, but 
depend upon it he will not hold out. Like the Israelites 
wlio were always looking back upon '' the flesh-pots of Egypt, 
the leeks, and the onions, and the cucumbers, and the gar- 
lic,'- and the consequence was that they loathed the manna, 
it was too insipid for their taste, and when it came to the 
test and they were commanded to go up and conquer the 
promised land, their courage failed; they refused to march, 
and were justly debarred from any share in the inheritance 
of Canaan. 

So will you, if you make secret reserve, if you do not 
give yourself wholly to Christ. You will be sure to go 
back in the hour of temptation and trial that shall come 
upon all the world. But he that sincerely and entirely, 
though it be but with a feeble faith and with many fears 
of final tailure, consecrates himself to the service of his 
2\Iaker and Redeemer, because he feels it to be his duty 
no less than his interest, and especially because the love of 
Christ, .which drew the Saviour down from heaven to suf- 
fer and die for him, constrains him ; because he feels that 
he can never do enough to testify his grateful sense of such 
unexampled kindness and magnanimity — this man, this wo- 
man, this child — thus drawn and thus influenced, and enter- 
ing into a solemn covenant with God, humbly looking to 
Him for strength to keep the same, shall ''be kept by the 
power of God through faith unto salvation ready to be re- 
vealed in the last time." "Which blessing may God grant 
to us all for Jesus' sake. Amen. 



SERMON XPV. 

THE BLESSEDNESS OF THE BELIEVER. 

"Blessed is he whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered. 
Blessed is the man unto whom the Lc rd imputeth not iniquity, and in 
whose spirit there is no guile." — Psalms, xxxii. 1, 2. 

The icorld and the loord put very different estimates 
upon things. The world counts them happy who are pros- 
perous in their outward concerns, surrounded with the 
means of earthly enjoyment, and disposed to improve then- 
advantages for their personal benefit. "Men will praise 
thee," says the Psalmist, " when thou doest well to thyself." 

Very different is the judgment of God. "Blessed are 
the poor in spirit : Blessed are they that mourn : Blessed 
are the meek : Blessed are they which are persecuted for 
righteousness sake ;" are the words with which the Saviour 
opened Bis sermon on the mount. He there describes the 
character which all God's worshipers must possess. In the 
words of our text we are taught what are the fundamental 
principles from which that character must proceed. We 
are told that it is not the righteous and the godly, but sin- 
ners that are blessed. Our blessedness, if it shall be real 
and lasting, must begin with the forgiveness of our sins. 
Before this has taken place, no true peace can dwell in the 
heart. "Enemies by wicked works" is the character of all 
men until they are reconciled unto God by faith in His Son. 
Hence to such there can be no blessedness. The dread of 
divine justice, which must be satisfied either by the death 



238 THE BLESSED^-ESS OF THE BELIETEE. 

of the sinner, or by that of his surety, lies with crushing 
weight upon all the unconverted. 

But when they are enabled to lay hold by faith on the 
covenant of grace, sealed with the blood of Christ as of a 
lamb without bleiwsh or spot, then this dread is removed 
at once. "Being justified by faith," says the apostle, "we 
have peace with God." Let us, then, in the fear of God, 
my brethren, contemplate more closely in this hour of sacred 
meditation. 

The blessedxess of the believee. 

And do Thou, Lord, make our meditations profitable to 
our souls. TTe ask it for Jesus' sake. 

We shall consider onr subject, fiest, negatively : thex, 
positively ; adding such reflections as it may present. 

" Blessed," says David, " is he whose transgression is for- 
giv^en, whose sin is covered. Blessed is the man unto 
whom the Lord imputeth not iniquity, and in whose spirit 
there is no guile." The text itself, you observe, presents 
the subject rather in its negative than its positive aspects. 
He speaks of transgression being forgiven, of sin covered, 
and iniquity not being imputed. Let us dwell a few mo- 
ments upon the import of these expressions, what they in- 
clude. 

They signity, in the first place, that guilt is removed. 
Before conversion man is a criminal, guilty often thousand 
times ten thousand violations of the divine law, and under 
sentence of death for these violations. Every day he is 
adding to the dreadful score already standing charged 
against him. From the first dawn of reason, he has been 
continually and uninterruptedly sinning against God and His 
holy law. Wherever this law in its requirements crossed 
his path, it was sure to be violated. And while he lived at 
enmity with God, nothing that he thought, said or did, was 



THE BLESSEDNESS OF THE BELIEVEK. 239 

done in conformity to that law, nor was it intended so to 
be. He would not submit to God, but would be his own 
master ; so tliat even if his conduct had been outwardly 
agreeable to the commands of his Maker, it would be in 
virtual disobedience, as not flowing from a disposition to 
obey. 

Every day, every hour, every moment, God requires all 
His rational subjects to obey His laws ; every day, every 
hour, every moment, therefore, that they refuse to submit 
to BQm their rightful Lord and Lawgiver, they incur guilt. 
And the virtuous citizen, who might challenge all his neigh- 
bors to prove that he had done wrong to any, may, in the 
eyes of Him who searcheth the heart, be more guilty than 
the drunkard, or the thief, or, perhaps, even the murderer. 

Now, this whole sum of guilt which stands charged to 
a man in God's books, is forgiven at once and in full, the 
moment he believes on the Lord Jesus Christ as his surety, 
who has paid his debt. Not an item is left standing against 
him. Whether he be conscious of the same or not, in God's 
account he is now clear. Therefore, says David, "Blessed 
is the man to whom the Lord imputeth not iniquity." His 
debt is canceled. He is justified, ^. e., acquitted of all guilt 
and accountability for his old sins. They are all forgiven. 
His " sin is covered ; " the mantle of Christ's love has been 
thrown over it, so that the Father sees it no more. Christ, 
as his intercessor says, " Father, see, I have paid the debt, 
I have satisfied the demands of Thy justice, I have saved 
the honor of Thy law, now Thou canst justify the sinner 
and still be just. Nay, I claim it as my right, that all my 
followers should be owned and accepted by Thee." 

Thus, by making Christ our friend, coming to Him in 
faith, at His gracious invitation, we secure to ourselves an 
advocate with the Father, who can effectually plead our 



240 THE BLESSEDNESS OF THE BELIEYEE. 

cause. The guilt which hung upon us like a mill-stone, and 
which must have sunk us to the lowest depths of the bot- 
tomless pit is removed, and with it the sense of guilt, the 
feeling of our liability to future woe. The sin may have 
been forgiven before we are made conscious of our deliver- 
ance, as a j^ardon may be made out for a criminal and he 
not immediately be made acquainted with the fact. But 
when the Spirit brings home to the sinner the fact of his 
being justified through faith in Christ, then joy takes pos 
session of his soul. He can now rejoice in God His Saviour. 
The crushing feeling of his ill-desert and of the wrath of 
God as resting on him is taken away. 

As the apostle speaks, "Being justified by faith, we have 
peace with God." We feel that He is reconciled unto us 
through the death of His Son, and that we are reconciled 
unto Him. The enmity that had heretofore existed in our 
breasts has been slain, eradicated, subdued. " The love of 
God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost, which 
is given unto us." From outlaws we have become citizens; 
children from aliens. True, the consciousness of our ill- 
desert remains ; but it is absorbed by the sense of the 
love which God has shown to us, and by the gratitude en- 
kindled in our hearts. While we feel that salvation is all 
of grace, we wish not to have it otherwise ; for the greater 
our demerit, the more honor will redound to the Saviour, 
from our restoration to the favor of God, as the physician 
receives the greatest honor from the recovery of the most 
hopeless cases. 

Thus our very sinfulness, as being the ground of the Sa- 
viour's work and the source of His honor, loses its bitter- 
ness in the thought of His glory being promoted by it. 
Xot that we would still '^ continue in sin, that grace might 
abound." This were to renounce our interest in Christ, by 



THE BLESSEDNESS OF THE BELIEVER. 241 

making Him the "minister of sin." It were an evidence 
that we had never sincerely repented, nor truly believed. 
For " how shall we that are dead to sin, live any longer 
therein ? " 

Bat, while we have learned to abhor sin, as that which is 
displeasing in the sight of God, and which caused the death 
of the Saviour to atone for it, we shall rejoice in the thought 
that He has conquered sin, and has deprived it of its power, 
" For sin," says the apostle, " shall not have dominion over 
you, for ye are not under the law, but under grace." Freed 
from the oppressive sense of guilt, the soul of the new-born 
Christian is like a bird let out of its cage, against the bars 
of which it had long in vain been beating with fruitless 
efforts to get free, and now enjoying the wide range of the 
air, and singing on some lofty tree its song of liberty and 
gratitude to the kind hand of its deliverer. It is filled with 
joy and peace, even to overflowing. Grace is the burden 
of its song. Praise to the Saviour who has rescued it at 
the price of His own life. Glory to the Father who con- 
trived the plan of Salvation, and was willing to sacrifice His 
own Son from love to us; and thanks to the Holy Spirit 
who applies the salvation, and enables us to receive it. He 
can hardly contain his joy. He wishes all the world to share 
in it. The woods and fields are filled with his songs of 
praise . 

A third benefit included in the forgiveness of sins, is, 
that the fear of death is gone. The regenerated sinner, be- 
fore his conversion, was, like the rest of his race, " all his 
lifetime in bondage through the fear of death." In spite of 
all their efforts, the un regenerate are afraid to die ; espe- 
cially such as have been taught the truths of religion, with- 
out having truly turned unto the Lord. There is a secret 

whisper in their souls thaUwhen they leave this world, they 

11 



242 THE BLESSEDKESS OF THE BELIEVER. 

must appear before their Judge and hear their doom ; while 
at the same time they are conscious that they have nothing 
to expect but to be consigned to endless torments for their 
rebellion and stubborn refusal of the offered mercy. They 
are afraid of death, because that will decide their fate for 
eternity. ^ 

However men may wish, and strive to hide it from them- 
selves, there is in every unconverted soul a secret dread of 
death, not merely, nor properly, of the dissolution of soul 
and body, but of what awaits them in another world. This 
fear of death is removed when a soul truly believes in the 
Lord Jesus Christ. The instinctive shudder at the pangs 
of dissolving nature may remain, though this vanishes in 
the trying moment, through the power of faith and the felt 
presence of its Saviour, who has promised never to leave or 
forsake His people. Indeed, the power of divine grace is 
often most conspicuous in a dying hour, enabling the be- 
liever to quit the world with a song of triumph, and to leave 
to the world a testimony to the reality of religion, calcu- 
lated to impress the most incredulous. 

How many examples are there not, from the earliest times 
of the gospel to the present day, of tender women and fee- 
ble children meeting death in its most horrible forms, not 
only without fear, but with alacrity, not to say joy; so 
completely was the fear of death swallowed up in the feeling 
of safety, and of soon being with the Lord. And this tri- 
umph over " the last enemy" is the fruit of faith. It fol- 
lows from the assurance felt deep in the soul, that its 
" transgression is forgiven, its sin covered." 

Closely connected with the last, is a fourth benefit de- 
rived from the forgiveness of sin ; namely, that the slavish 
fear of God will be exchanged for a filial spirit of reverence 
and o:rateful love. • 



THE BLESSEDNESS OF THE BELIEVER. 243 

When a man tries to serve God, so long as he has not 
obtained the forgiveness of his sins, he can do it only in a 
mercenary spirit of meriting the divine favor by his own 
goodness, which will always be accompanied by a sense of 
having to deal with a hard master, who demands an un- 
reasonable amount of service, and an uneasy feeling of not, 
perhaps, having done enough. Thus, with all the fostered 
pride of the heart, such a one will never approach into the 
presence of his Maker with other feelings than those of a 
slave, nor serve Him from any other principle than the self- 
ish one of securing a reward. The affectionate, dutiful dis- 
position of a child is out of the question. But a service 
rendered under such circumstances can not be acceptable to 
God, and must prove irksome to the subject. Accordingly, 
it is sure to degenerate in the long run, into mere hypocrisy 
and lip service, as painful to the offerer as it is distasteful to 
Him who demands our heart, our cheeful submission, and 
willing obedience. 

A fifth and last benefit of a negative kind connected 
with the sense of pardoned sin is the being freed from the 
heart-gnawing consciousness of living without leave upon 
another's property; liable to be ejected at a moment's 
warning. 

This is the condition of all the unconverted. They are 
conscious that their property (as they term it), their 
time, their persons, their services, all belong to God ; that 
He requires, and justly requires, that they should be de- 
voted to His service, and honor, which they refuse to do ; 
spending upon their lusts, or hoarding in their coffers, that 
money that should be turned to a better account. Hence, 
they can not without dread look forward to the time when 
they shall have to render an account of their stewardship. 
And this anticipation of a coming judgment embitters al] 



244 THE BLESSEDNESS OF THE BELIEVEE. 

their joys and makes their lives miserable, even while sur- 
rounded by all that, in the eye of the world, is calculated 
to afford enjoyment. Truly is it said in the volume of di- 
vine inspiration, that " the way of the transgressor is hard." 
" There is no peace, saith my God, to the wicked." Their 
highest pleasures are pains ; their joys are delusive ; their 
hopes are vain. 

From all these fears and anxieties the believer is free. 
Instead of these soul-harrowing cares he is admitted to the 
enjoyment of many positive benefits which are all included 
in the idea that he has been adopted into the family of God. 

This was to constitute the second part of our address, 
to which we now proceed. The blessedness of him whose 
" transgression is forgiven and his sin covered, and to whom 
the Lord doth not impute iniquity," from its positive side, 
as we just said, is all included in the idea of his adoption 
by God. 

Whenever God forgives a man his sin. He forgives all, 
and admits him to all the privileges of the most favored 
children of God. Such He has foreordained to share in the 
happiness which is bestowed on Christ as the Representative 
and Forerunner of His people. Therefore, says the apostle, 
" Whom He did foreknow. He also did predestinate to be 
conformed to the image of His Son, that He might be the 
first-born among many brethren." 

We question whether the foreknowledge here spoken of 
is to be understood in the metaphysical sense of God's fore- 
knowledge of all coming events. It is rather to be under- 
stood of the favor with which He regards His chosen peo- 
ple, for whom He has predestinated a course of glory, and 
honor, and immortality ; whom the apostle Peter calls 
'' elect according to the foreknowledge of God." Who 
these are we may gather from every part of Scripture, 



THE BLESSEDNESS OF THE BELIEVER. 245 

namely, such as believe on the Lord Jesus. These are jus- 
tified ; they are adopted into the family of God, considered 
and treated as children. Whatever an obedient and affec- 
tionate child may expect from a kind, wise, and powerful 
father, that may we expect at the hand of our heavenly 
Father ; especially as we have our elder brother's interces- 
sion continually exercised in our favor. But He is seated 
at the right hand of the Majesty on high, with all power 
and authority committed to Him, for the benefit of His 
people. [ISTot only the Church at large, but each individual 
member shares in His watchful Providence and tender care. 
" In Him dwelleth all the fullness of the godhead bodily," • 
for our benefit and salvation. In Christ, as our Mediator 
and Highpriest, is contained every blessing that can make a 
rational being happy. From Him we may derive grace to 
help in every time of need. 

But let us examine somewhat more closely the various 
blessings which are contained in that covenant, Avhich is 
*^ well ordered and sure." We mention, firsts peace with 
God. This the believer obtains as soon as he lays hold by 
faith on the promise of God. By this we understand a 
sweet sense of divine mercy as extended towards us, when, 
despairing of help from any other quarter, we cast ourselves 
simply on the Lord Jesus Christ for salvation. No sooner 
is the soul of the penitent sinner enabled to look by faith 
upon a crucified Saviour, than the burden of guilt is re- 
moved, and a sacred feeling of the peace of God takes pos- 
session of the heart. This peace which passes all under- 
standing, and must be felt and experienced in order to form 
any proper conception of it, is the jDrivilege of all believers. 

But through wrong views of the nature of the gospel 
plan, it is often a long time before it is actually enjoyed ; 
and for want of watchfulness it may be again lost where it 



246 THE BLESSEDNESS OF THE BELIEVER. 

has once been enjoyed ; and few, perhaps, retain it uncloud- 
ed through the whole of their pilgrimage. Yet, we think 
this need not be, if Christians would be diligent in every 
duty, and careful to " keep a conscience void of offense to- 
ward God and man." And if we have been so unfortu- 
nate as to lose it, the way to recover it is the same as that 
by which we obtained it at first, by sincere repentance and 
earnest prayer, and looking by faith upon Him " who was 
delivered for our offenses, and raised again for our justifi- 
cation." 

Another benefit that the believer derives from union with 
Christ is, "joy in the Lord." This can not exist without 
that peace of which we have been speaking-, but may be 
wanting in a great degree where the other is found. It is, 
in short, the fruit of that peace ; as the apostle speaks : 
" Therefore, being justified by faith, we have peace with God 
through our Lord Jesus Christ. By whom also we have 
access, by faith, into this grace wherein we stand, and re- 
joice in hope of the glory of God." It is the confident ex- 
pectation of the future glory that is to be revealed in His 
saints at the second coming of the Lord, that fills the hearts 
of His people with joy and enables them to rejoice, as the 
apostle goes on to say, amidst tribulation, even when most 
severe ; for they know that all these things must in the end 
work for their good. 

And the greatness of the promised inheritance is such, 
that all the events of this life, be they prosperous or ad- 
verse, lose their significance in the comparison. Says the 
apostle whom we have just quoted, " I reckon that the suf- 
ferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared 
with the glory which shall be revealed in us." And in an- 
other place : " Our light affliction, which is but for a mo- 



THE BLESSEDNESS OF THE BELIEVER. 247 

ment, worketh out for us a far more exceeding and eternal 
weight of glory." 

The Christian can " rejoice in the Lord alvvay," because 
he knows that all things are under the direction of the Lord 
to whom has been committed all power and authority in 
heaven and on earth, which He employs for the good of 
His chosen ones : as He promised to His apostles when Lie 
gave them their commission to " go into all the world and 
preach the gospel to every creature. For lo,-' says He, "I 
am with you alway unto the end of the world." This prom- 
ise every faithful soldier of the cross can claim for himself. 
And why, then, should he not cheerfully, joyfully, go for- 
ward to the assault of the strongholds of sin and Satan ? 
Have not the men that served in a war of earth, in which 
they had no very immediate interest of their own, often 
rushed into the midst of danger and death, with an alac- 
rity that was really astonishing — -and shall the cross-bear- 
ing army show less courage and alacrity in a contest where 
victory is insured to every faithful soldier, who will be 
crowned v^ith an eternal inheritance ? 

But where shall w^e find this joy in the Lord, which makes 
all sacrifices easy, and all exertions pleasant ? Where is the 
army of the cross, that has turned its back to the w^orid, 
and is traveling Zionward with unaverted countenance ? 
Where is the self-denial that marks the genuine follower of 
Christ? Where are the labors of love, and the patient per- 
severance in well-doing^ that are the evidences that our faith 
is real, and our hopes of heaven well-founded ? Have not 
the cares of life, if nothing worse, eaten like a worm at the 
heart of our graces, and left scarce a vestige of holiness in 
our lives ? 

A third benefit which the true believer enjoys, is submis- 
sion to all the dealings and leadings of Providence. The 



248 THE BLESSEDNESS OF THE BELIEYEE. 

unconverted are, as the prophet expresses it "like the 
troubled sea, when it can not rest." They are like sailors 
on the ocean, in a dark night, without rudder or compass, 
tossed to and fro by conflicting desires. and unsettled prin- 
ciples. When things go to their mind, they cast off the 
fear of God, and ascribe to their own skill or prudence the 
success they meet. When they are in trouble, they mur- 
mur against Providence. 

Kot so the Christian, that is one in reality. He sees the 
hand of God in all that befalls him, and submits with pa- 
tience to the stroke of His rod, knowing that it is meant 
for good, and will take a happy issue if received in the 
proper spirit. And when he is about to undertake any im- 
portant business, or to make any change in his residence or 
manner of life, he looks for direction and counsel from the 
Lord. Nay, every day, and often in the day, he looks for 
this guidance, so that he may not go astray nor bring him- 
self into difficulty. And if he is prospered in his undertak- 
ings, he acknowledges the good hand of the Lord upon him, 
and proves his gratitude by devoting a portion of his gains 
to the service of Christ. Some have employed all they 
could earn, after meeting their necessary expenses, in works 
of charity and piety. 

This submission to God in all things will in time ripen 
into entire acquiescence in all the ways of God ; an in- 
v/rought persuasion that all He does is right ; ' that the 
world is wisely governed, and that amidst all the wrong 
and outrage, the fraud and wickedness, and oppression and 
cruelty that abound, the purpose of God is ripening apace, 
and will in due time come forth glorious and complete. 
This conviction enables him to possess his soul in patience 
when he sees wickedness and impiety seemingly on the in- 
crease, and the love of many who once promised fair, wax- 



THE BLESSEDNESS OF THE BELIEVEE. 249 

mg cold ; others quitting the ranks and returning to their 
former sinful ways ; the simple led astray by false teachers, 
and "the ways of Zion" languishing. 

Not but that so sad a spectacle will cause him much 
grief. But as the winds can only ruffle the surface of the 
sea, while far below all is calm and tranquil — so will there 
be in the depths of his soul that peace and tranquility which 
Christ alone can bestow. 

And amid this sacred calm of the soul, the watchful and 
faithful Christian will be continually growing in every grace 
that can adorn the character : in holiness^ in diligence^ in 
patience^ mfaith^ in deadness to the worlds in spirituality 
and heavenly mindedness^ in hope^ in love^ till he attains to 
the full assurance of hope^ and of faith^ and perfect love^ 
and ripeness for glory. 

He will be growing in holiness. He will see more of its 
beauty and loveliness ; so that it will be the earnest cry of 
his soul, Oh, that I could be entirely freed from sin and 
made pure and holy as God is ! His conscience becomes 
more tender, so as to shrink from any thing that has the 
least taint of sin about it. He will avoid the occasions of 
sin and whatever would provoke to sin. He will watch 
over his thoughts, feelings and desires, so as to bring them 
all into proper subjection to the will and mind of God, as 
revealed in His word. If he has failed in duty or given 
room to sinful desires, he will humble himself at the foot of 
the cross, and there lie till he hears the voice of the good 
shepherd saying, " Thy sin is forgiven, sin no more." 

He will increase in his diligence in serving the Lord. 
Daily will he ask, "Lord, what wilt Thou have me to do ?" 
He will seek for opportunities of usefulness, stirring up 
others as well as himself to " works of faith and labors of 
love." He will not hide his talent in a napkin, under the 

11* 



250 THE BLESSEDNESS OF THE BELIETEE. 

vain pretense that he is too insignificant to exert any influ- 
ence, or to do any good. 

Instead of conforming to the world to the utmost limit 
of what are considered allowable pleasures, he will, without 
practicing any unnecessary and repulsive austerity, seek to 
draw especially the young and inexperienced, from too near 
an approach to the precipice. He will try to find rational 
amusement for them in the place of much that borders on 
impropriety. He will join others in any rational projects 
for benefiting society ; and if he can do nothing more, he 
will endeavor to set such an example as shall be a pattern 
for others. 

To all this he will join patience^ without which nothing 
great or good has ever been accomplished. He will seek 
to subdue his natural imjjetuosity or readiness to judge 
harshly of his brethren. He will not be discouraged at 
every little obstruction that he may meet, nor give up in 
despair when he can not discover the immediate success of 
his labors. Instead of giving way to despondency and ill- 
temper, he will try whether he can not succeed better on a 
difierent plan. He will watch for a favorable opportunity. 
In warning a man against some ruinous indulgence, as in 
drink, or the use of tobacco, or in swearing or whatever it 
may be, he will seek to approach him with kindness, employ- 
ing, if necessary, something of the wisdom of the serj^ent as 
well as the innocence and gentleness of the dove. If re- 
pulsed at the first attempt, he will watch for a more conve- 
nient season. Or if he does no more, he will show by tlie 
sadness of his countenance how much he is grieved at tlie 
fliult and danger of his brother. 

But we are only throwing out hints. The Christian that 
lives up to his privilege will be constantly growing, too, in 
faith. 



THE BLESSEDNESS OF THE BELIEVER. 251 

The essential principle of faith is the same in all believers 
— confidence in God and humble reliance on the merits of 
Christ alone for acceptance. But faith, like every other 
grace, admits of increase ; and we may make three princi- 
pal divisions according to the distinction laid down by the 
apostle John, who addresses three grades of Christians, 
whom he calls severally, children^ young men^ 2ii\di fathers. 

The faith of cliilclren^ where we must all begin, and what 
must make the essence of faith to the end of our earthly 
course, consists in receiving a thing for true, simply on 
the authority of God. It must be so, for God hath said it. 
Only here we should carefully distinguish between what 
God has actually spoken, and what construction we put 
upon it, or what inference we derive from it. 

To come next to the faith of young men.^ i. 6., of such as 
have had some experience already in the ways of the Lord ; 
this very experience is what gives to their faith a peculiar 
character. They believe it is so, not alone because God 
has declared it, but because they have tried it and found it 
to be true. This makes it easier for them to believe, and 
they are prepared for more severe trials of their faith, to 
which tliey must expect to be called in due time. 

The third and highest degree is that of the fathers — of 
such as have grown old in the service of Christ, and have 
passed through many trials and conflicts. For it is not 
mere age or long profession that will place a man in this 
class ; many a young Christian having greater experience 
than some far advanced in life. But wherein does the faith 
of the fathers differ ? It is that they have come to the con- 
viction that what God requires is not only best, but that it 
could not be otherwise, that the very nature of things de- 
mands just such a course to be pursued if we w^ould attain 
to excellence. In short, it is the conviction derived from 



252 THE BLESSEDNESS OF THE BELIE YEK. 

long and often trying experience, that in His most seem- 
ingly severe dealings, God still acts from goodness, and has 
in view the welfare of His whole dominion, and in regard 
especially to His accepted ones, if He chastens them, it is 
for their profit that they may become partakers of His 
holiness. When fairly arrived at this conviction, how 
lightly do the heaviest trials lie upon the advanced Chris- 
tian, who is now nearly ripe for glory ! How does he re- 
joice in the midst of sufferings, and cheerfully cast himself 
upon his gracious, covenant-keeping God and faithful Shep- 
herd, knowing that He understands best what is necessary 
for his perfection! Were God to leave it to him, whether 
he suffer any more or enter at once into glory, he would 
only throw it back upon God to do what seemed best to 
Him. Thus quietly, lying in the arms of his Saviour like 
a child at the mother's breast, he waits till his appointed 
time comes, when he shall be called home to his rest. 

Such a faith is accompanied by increasing deadness to the 
world. The things of time and sense lose their power to 
impress the mind, in proportion as the thoughts are directed 
to heaven. As from some mountain height where the air 
is pure and clear, the traveler looks down upon the vale he 
has left, and sees it enveloped in fog, or disturbed by 
storms that are raging beneath him, so the advanced Chris- 
tian can look down from the elevation he has gained, with 
sincere commiseration of those who are exposed to the 
storms and fogs of earth. His soul dwells at ease. He en- 
joys the benefit of the promise contained in those words 
of the prophet: "Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace 
whose mind is stayed on Thee ; because he trusteth in Thee." 
Thus, though yet in the world, he is not of the world. His 
joys flow from things unseen by mortal eye. He "endures 
as seeing Him that is invisible." 



THE BLESSEDNESS OF THE BELIEVER. 253 

But we hasten on. As this deadness to the world and its 
pleasures increases, so does his spirituality and heavenly^ 
mindedness. His thoughts and affections are engaged, with 

growing exclusiveness, about the great and glorious truths 
of divine revelation. On these his wishes center. From 
these his joys proceed. And fed by this immortal food, 
and drinking this spiritual wine, his whole nature is more 
and more transformed, spiritualized, and made heavenly. 

Looking continually to his great Pattern and Exemplar, 
the Lord Jesus Christ, he is changed into the same image, 
from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord. And 
he has the bright prospect before him, that though at pres- 
ent the body is dead because of sin, yet once it shall be re- 
stored to more than pristine glory, on account of the Spirit 
of Christ that dwelleth in it ; when stripped of the last par- 
ticle of sin and corruption, the whole man, body and soul, 
shall be presented before God the Father, by the victorious 
Captain of salvation. 

Thus the faithful soldier of the cross is continually grow- 
ing in hope and love, till he arrive at the full assurance of 
hope and faith and attains that ''^perfect love " which cast- 
eth out fear. Xothing now can ruffle his quiet breast. 
The storms of life, if they reach him, can not cause him any 
fear or distress. Like some tall cliff, around which the waves 
of ocean vainly dash and break in fury, he calmly lifts his 
head above the turmoil, enjoying the perpetual sunshine of 
the Sun of righteousness. His hopes ripen into an assur- 
ance little less than that of actual possession. His love 
grows purer from day to day, as he sees more clearly the 
greatness of the Saviour's love and is changed more com- 
pletely into the Saviour's image. 

Thus does the Christian gradually grow ripe for glory ^ 
and waits patiently till his time come to be removed from 



254 THE BLESSEDNESS OF THE BELIEVER. 

this scene of trouble and trial, to the realms of everlasting 
peace, and immortality, and bliss. 

And now, in making the application of our subject, let me 
ask you, my Christian friends, how do you stand in respect 
to the blessedness of which we have been speaking ? 

Another year has nearly come to a close. How natural 
to ask ourselves, what progress we have made in the course 
of it. At w^hat stage of Christian experience have we ar- 
rived ? Though we can not say that we have already at- 
tained, or are already perfect, can we say with truth that 
we are pressing forward to the mark ? Unless we are thus 
aiming at greater degrees of holiness, and are gaining the 
victory over our passions and desires, w^e have reason to 
fear that we shall never reach the goal. How many have 
run well for a season, who finally missed of salvation, be- 
cause they grew weary of well-doing ! It is only such as 
hold on to the end, to whom the crown of life is promised. 

Is our salvation nearer now, than when we first believed ? 
Are we better prepared to die and to render up our ac- 
count ? If this were to be the last year of our life — and 
who knows to the contrary ? — are we meet for the " inheri- 
tance of the saints in light?" What evidence can we 
show of our acceptance with God ? Have we been living 
up to our privileges? Have we kept our vows of alle- 
giance to the Lord ? Let us make a diligent inquiry into 
these matters, and see how we stand toward God and 
heaven ? 

To refuse or neglect to enter upon such an inquiry w^ould 
of itself be a dangerous symptom. For the sincere Chris- 
tian is ever afraid that he might deceive himself in regard 
to his immortal interests. For he knows from sad experi- 
ence the truth of the divine declaration that, " the heart is 
deceitful above all things and desperately wicked." There- 



THE BLESSEDNESS OF TUE BELIEVER. 255 

fore his prayer is with the Psalmist, " Search me, O God, 
and know my heart : try me and know my thoughts : and 
see if there be any wicked way in me, and lead me in the 
way everlasting." Let this be the prayer of every one of 
us, my friends ; and to prove that it is sincere, let us make 
a strict examination of our own hearts, comparing them 
with the requisitions of the word of God. 

Let us improve the remaining days of the passing year 
to renew our covenant with the Lord, to form resolutions 
for the future, as well as to exercise a true repentance for 
past neglects and short comings. 

Let us with one consent return unto the Lord, with pen- 
itent acknowledgment of our faults. He is " merciful and 
gracious, long-suffering to us ward, not willing that any 
should perish." Let us cast ourselves anew upon the merits 
of a crucified Redeemer, and resolve henceforth to keep 
close to Him ; walking in His footsteps, denying ourselves 
and bearing our cross after him, so that we may share in 
the blessedness of such whose " transgression is forgiven, 
and their sin covered, and to whom the Lord doth not im- 
pute iniquity, and in whose spirit there is no guile." 

Let this guileless, this sincere, upright spirit characterize 
us henceforth, my brethren. Then shall we have the testi- 
mony of our conscience that we are Christ's, and if Christ's, 
then are we the children of God, in whose heart dwells the 
Spirit of God, enabling us to cry Abba, Father. Then shall 
the brief remnant of our lives be consecrated to the service 
of our gracious Saviour, and our end be blessed. 

I can not stop without addressing a word to the uncon- 
verted, especially such as hope some day to turn unto the 
Lord in earnest. Another year of your lives is nearly past, 
and does it find you any better prepared than the last ? 



256 THE BLESSEDNESS OF THE BELIEVER. 

Did you not then entertain the same hopes as you do now, 
that you would not always trifle with eternal realities ? 

And are you any more likely to obtain your wish in the 
coming year than in this which is drawing to a close? 
When shall this have an end ? " If the righteous scarcely 
be saved, where shall the ungodly and the sinner appear ?" 
When will you be wise ? Xothing short of a firm and im- 
mediate resolution now to turn and make your peace with 
God, can save you. Oh, then, think upon it ! Let not this 
year close before you have made a full and final surrender 
to God in Christ. Then shall you, too, know by happy ex- 
perience how, " Blessed is he whose transgression is for- 
given, whose sin is covered. Blessed is the man unto 
whom the Lord imputeth not iniquity, and in whose spirit 
there is no guile." 



SERMON XV. 

THE KI GH T E O USXE S S OF GOD. 

"That He might be just and the justifier of Him which beheveth in 
Jesus." — Ro:ma2s-s, iii. 26. 

The doctrine of justification by faith alone without 
works, i, 6., without any degree or kind of merit on the 
part of man, was rescued from its comparative oblivion by 
the immortal Luther. 

He had felt its value in furnishing the only effectual balm 
for the wounded spirit. He had tried without success the 
boasted methods which the Romish Church prescribes to 
obtain peace of conscience. It was only when he had learned 
by simple faith to cast himself upon the infinite merits of 
the Lord Jesus Christ, relinquishing every other plea and 
every other hope, that he obtained a satisfactory assurance 
of the divine favor. And what he had found after long and 
diligent search and many painful struggles, he was anxious 
to recommend to others, that they also might be brought 
into the liberty of the children of God. 

This doctrine of justification by faith, is indeed in a cer- 
tain sense the most important of all. Without it there can 
be no sincere piety. All our views concerning God and 
man are inadequate and ineffectual till we learn this funda- 
mental truth. The conscience of the sinner never can be 
pacified until it has been sprinkled with the blood of Christ ; 
in other words, till it has learned to trust implicitly and 



258 THE RIGHTEOUSNESS OF GOD. 

wholly in the merits of a crucified and risen Saviour. Many 
think they do so, who yet have some other dependence, if 
that should prove insufiicient, or rather who calculate that 
the merits of Christ may make up for any defect in their 
own cighteousness when it comes to be weighed in the bal- 
ances of the sanctuary. But all such dependence is vain. 
Nor can the conscience be truly pacified till it lays hold by 
faith on Christ, and realizes that God can be just while He 
justifies "him that believeth in Jesus." Our moral nature 
is so constituted — and it had to be, if man should be a free 
moral agent — that the consciousness of guilt and the dread 
of standing before God as our judge, can not be removed 
till we are satisfied that due amends have been made to the 
violated law, in some way or other. 

A law without a penalty annexed were no law. And the 
penalty remitted without adequate compensation, were a 
mere caricature of government, which would deserve and 
incur the contempt of the governed. Hence, if God had 
published a general amnesty, without basing it upon the 
atoning work of His own beloved Son, He could not have 
commanded our belief. Even with all the pledges and 
vouchers which He has furnished^ it is a hard matter for 
the sinner to believe that God is truly reconciled and ready 
to receive every penitent prodigal into favor again ; as all 
can testify that have ever truly repented and found forgive- 
ness. 

Since, therefore, it is of such immense importance that we 
should have clear and correct views on this subject, you will 
not be surprised if we have chosen for the subject of your 
pious contemplations to-day. 

The RiGHTE0us:^rESS of God : 
or the way and ground of the sinner's justification. 



THE RIGUTEOUSNESS OF GOD. 259 

May the Lord guide my thoughts, and prepare your 
hearts for a profitable consideration of this subject. 

In order not to distract your minds by too wide and de- 
vious a flight, we shall confine ourselves to what may be 
termed the subjective view of the question, or, how it is 
that the method of salvation contained in the gospel, is 
adapted to satisfy and appease the conscience of the con- 
vinced sinner. In pursuing this course, it will be proper to 
inquire what conscience demands in order to its pacification. 

We begin with the remark that none but such as have 
actually believed in the Lord Jesus Christ, and these only 
while, and so far as they believe, have, or can have, a good 
conscience. The conscience of the sinner may be in a man- 
ner asleep ; it may be scarcely sensible of its guilt, yet deep 
in the recesses of the heart, lies the burden of unforgiven 
sin, and the consciousness faint, but real, that this must be 
removed or it will yet end in final ruin and eternal misery. 

When a man is convinced of sin, it is that this sense of 
guilt has been vivified and become distinctly conscious, 
causing a painful uneasiness, and producing a wish, if not 
an effort to obtain relief. 

But in order to obtain this relief, since the mind is not to 
be operated upon physically or mechanically, but by con- 
vincing reasons, and satisfactory evidence, we have first to 
examine what are the questions which must be solved in or- 
der to ensure a satisfied and peaceful conscience. 

These will be found to fall under five heads : 

The first will be, as already hinted in our prefatory re- 
marks, whether the justice of God has been, or can be sat- 
isfied. The sense of guilt necessarily follows upon the trans- 
gression of the divine law; and not that alone, but it attends 
the state of mind in which the unconverted find themselves 
from the first dawn of reason. There is a felt opposition to 



260 • THE EIGHTEOUSXESS OF GOD. 

the divine authority in every unregenerate breast ; weak and 
scarce perceptible it may be at first, but gaining strength 
with every year, or we might as well say, with every day 
of continued impenitence. In some few instances it may 
have been so early overcome by the influence of divine 
grace, as scarce to be perceptible on the closest scrutiny 
Of John the Baptist we are even informed that he should 
be filled witli the Holy Ghost from Im mother's womb, and 
yet we do not understand that this precluded the possibility 
or even the certainty that he sometimes committed sin, or 
that he did not need to be regenerated in the period of con- 
scious existence. 

Be that as it may, and we would not wish to limit the 
efficacy of the Holy Spirit beyond what the Bible teaches ; 
one thing is clear, that we are " all by nature the children 
of wrath," and we are sensible of it to a certain extent ; so 
far, at least, that we have not " a good conscience toward 
God," till we have been " born again of the Spirit." We 
know more or less distinctly that we are under subjection 
to the law of God, and that by not faithfully and constantly 
observing the same, we have rendered ourselves liable to 
its penalty. 

Therefore, the first question of the awakened mind will 
always be, whether the justice of God has been, or can be 
satisfied. Till we hear of the Saviour and His vicarious 
work, we shall naturally strive to make amends for our sins 
by some act of atonement of our own, some sacrifice or self- 
inflicted penalty. Such has been the course in all ages of 
such as were serious in the search of peace of mind, but 
history and experience testify that this has never proved 
satisfactory to the human soul. This is finely exemplified in 
the case of the Hindoo who was performing penance for his 
sins, by wearing sandals with sharp pegs in them as he went 



THE EIGHTEOUSNESS OF GOD. 261 

on a long pilgrimage to some sacred place, and who (on his 
return toward home, I think it was) met providentially 
with a missionary from whom he heard of salvation by 
Jesus Christ, upon which he joyfully gave up his self-inflict- 
ed tortures and received the truth, saying this was what he 
had been seeking all along. And, indeed, the gospel alone 
affords a satisfactory reply to this demand of the soul. It 
assures us that the services of the old covenant, though of 
divine institution, were not able to pacify the soul. ''For 
the law," says St. Paul, " having a shadow of good things 
to come, and not the very image of the things," not the 
thing itself, but only, so to speak, a picture of it, " can 
never with those sacrifices which they offered year by year 
continually, make the comers thereunto perfect," that is, 
remove the sense of guilt and liability to pu^shment, " for 
thus," as he goes on to reason, " would they not have 
ceased to be offered ? because that the worshipers once 
purged would have had no more conscience of sins." Or as 
he says immediately after, " In those sacrifices there is a re- 
membrance again made of sins every year; for it is not pos- 
sible that the blood of bulls and of goats should take away 
sins," yet that blood being shed by divine appointment had 
its share of efficacy, inasmuch as it served to restore a man 
to his civil and religious priviliges in the Jewish polity. 
"How much more," argues the apostle, "shall the blood of 
Christ, who through the Eternal Spirit," or the divine na- 
ture that dwelt in Him, " offered Himself without spot to 
God, purge your conscience from dead works, to serve the 
living God ;" that is, release them from the slavish, and un- 
profitable service (comparatively so) of the law, to serve 
God henceforth in a filial spirit, in spirit and in truth. 

The great central truth of the gospel, that Christ Jesus, 
God-man, submitted to the penalty of His own law in our 



262 THE EIGHTZOUS2sES5 OF GOD. 

behalf, shed His precious blood, suffering a violent death by 
the hand of the existing government, acting as God's rep- 
resentative in this matter — this once received in faith, in 
firm, full, and simple confidence on the authority of God 
Himself, leaves no doubt on the mind that the justice of 
God was fully satisfied. The infinite excellence of the vic- 
tim gives infinite value to the sacrifice. 

But to make it available it required to be voluntary on 
the part of the victim, and accepted on the part of God. 
Xow the first is evident from what the Saviour both said 
and proved by His acts. He says, " Therefore doth my 
Father love me, beeaase I lay down my life that I might 
take it again. So 7nan taketh it from nie^ but I lay it 
down of myself. I have power to lay it down, and I have 
power to take it again." And to prove convincingly that 
this was so, we find that when His enemies came to seize 
Him, at His word and glance they started back and fell to 
the ground, showing that they could not have touched Him 
without His consent. And when He expired it was after 
having exclaimed with a loud voice, " Father, into Thy 
hands I commend my spirit ; " e^incing that He did not 
die from pain or exhaustion, for then His voice would have 
been faint, but simply as a voluntary act on His part, seeing 
all things He had come to do and sufi:er on earth were now 
accomplished ; so that the centurion, who stood by, when 
he saw it, " glorified God, saying, certainly this was a right- 
eous man." And, indeed, His resuming His life and reani- 
mating His body at the time He had so ofiten predicted, 
proves the same, so that if we believe that Christ rose from 
the dead, we shall feel satisfied that He was the appointed 
and accepted victim, of which Abraham had unconsciously 
prophesied, when he said to Isaac, whom he expected to 
offer as a sacrifice with his own hands, '' God will provide 



THE RIGHTEOUSNESS OF GOD. 263 

Himself a lamb ; " or as the Baptist expressed it, when 
pointing to Jesus, " Behold the Lamb of God which taketh 
away the sin of the world ! " 

Justice, we may be sure, was satisfied. When God for- 
gives sin. He does not violate justice in the slightest degree. 
The law has had its full equivalent for man's infraction, 
and that from man ; sin was punished in the same nature 
that committed it. "Forasmuch as the children are parta- 
kers of flesh and blood," share in the common human na- 
ture, '^He also Himself, likewise took part of the same, 
that thi:o ugh (His) death He might destroy him that had 
the power of death, that is, the devil." 

But though this point is, therefore, satisfactorily settled, 
still a question will arise in the breast of the awakened sin- 
ner (whether justly or not), whether God has indeed ac- 
cepted of the offering ; for though it might be sufficient as 
far as the demands of the law were concerned, yet it was a 
matter optional with God whether He would accept of the 
offered substitute, or v>^hether He w^ould let the law have 
its course. There was, in short, no original, inherent neces- 
sity for God to accept any equivalent for the injury done to 
Him and His holy law. For sin is not only an infringement 
of law, as such — it is a direct insult to the Majesty of God.^ 
We may suppose Him to be so highly incensed by our re- 
bellion and contumacy, as to refuse reconciliation on any 
terms; — and judging from our own feelings we would very 
naturally conclude this to be the case. If we had been 
injured only the ten thousandeth part as much as He has, 
we should find it impossible ever to forgive. 

Xow, this I believe is the chief difficulty in the mind of 
the awakened sinner, and till this is removed, no hearty 
reconciliation can take place. Accordingly, we find that 



264 THE EIGKTEOrSN'ESS OF GOD. 

particular respect has been had to this difficultv as existing 
in the mind of the sinner. 

Not only does the fact, that He who made the atonement 
was Himself the Eternal Son of the Eternal Father, very 
God of very God ; who '• was in the beginning with God, 
and was God," — not only does this fact of itself settle the 
whole question; for God can not be divided against Himself; 
but there are abundant testimonies to the efteet that it was 
not only with the consent, but by the original motion of 
the Father, that the Son undertook our cause when desper- 
ate to any but an Almighty Intercessor. Therefore says 
the Saviour in His conversation with Xicodemus : " God so 
loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that 
whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have 
everlasting life." And every where He ascribes His com- 
ing into the world to the Father's appointment. He assures 
the Jews that the works He did, He did in His Father's 
name by His authority and under His commission. "The 
Son," He says, " can do nothing of Himself, but what He 
seeth the Father do, for what things soever He doeth, these 
also doeth the Son likewise." In short, He declares that 
the most perfect harmony exists between Him and the Fa- 
ther, when He says, "I and the Father are one." 

To the same purpose are all the prophecies uttered in the 
times of the Old Testament concerning the servant of God, 
the Messiah to come. They show that it was part of the di- 
vine plan respecting our world to provide a Saviour. And 
even those prophecies which relate to the various nations of 
the world have a direct bearing upon the same subject. 
For they prove conclusively, both in their utterance and in 
their fulfillment, that the government of this world is con- 
ducted with express reference to the work which Christ 
came to perform — or if you prefer to state the matter from 



THE RIGHTEOUSNESS OF GOD. 265 

the other side, they show that Clirist's whole work is part 
and parcel of the general government of God. 

But as if all this were not considered sufficient to con- 
vince men of the kind intentions of God towards our ruined 
race, we have the most positive reiterated assurances to this 
eftect, in words the most persuasive and affecting that 
human language can afford or human imagination can con- 
ceive. Thus He says by the mouth of Ezekiel: ''Have I 
any pleasure at all that the wicked should die ? saith the 
Lord God, and not that he should return from his ways and 
live." And as if this were not enough, He confirms the 
same with an oath, saying by the same prophet: " As I live, 
saith the Lord God, I have no pleasure in the death of the 
wicked, but that the wicked turn from his way and live : 
turn ye, turn ye, from your evil ways, for why will ye die, 
O house of Israel ?" 

Therefore does God present His gracious offers in the 
form of a covenant and solemn stipulation, confirmed by a 
sacrifice and an oath. A formal covenant has always been 
considered as the most solemn form of an agreement be- 
tween different parties. In the case of a dispute or war 
that had pre^ iously existed, it is understood to put a full 
and final end to the same. To break such a covenant was 
regarded as a crime of the deepest dye, and to ascribe such 
conduct to the Holy One would be the height of blasphemy. 
And thus to give us the most convincing evidence of His 
gracious intentions, He has confirmed His promise with an 
oath and solemn covenant. 

But as if even this were not enough, He adds entreaties, 
as though we were the injured party and He had offended, 
He beseeches us in the most tender manner—" Be ye recon- 
ciled unto God." He assures us that all our past sins shall 
be forgiven and forgotten, the moment that we return to 

12 



266 THE RIGHTEOUSNESS OF GOD. 

our allegiance ; that though we have acted as base a part 
as a woman who should leave her husband and live with 
another man, yet if we will but return He will forget all 
and receive us to favor again. And this readiness of our 
heavenly Father to meet and embrace every returning 
prodigal is evinced by examples innumerable, some of 
which stand on record in the book of God. Thus, no 
sooner had David acknowledged his offense, than the 
prophet, speaking in the name of God, tells him that it is 
forgiven. Peter, though he had thrice denied his Master 
was restored on his repentance. Saul, though he had per- 
secuted the Church was pardoned and made a chosen ves- 
sel in the service of the Lord. Manasseh, though he had 
shed innocent blood very much in Jerusalem, was forgiven 
when in captivity he came to himself, and was restored to his 
throne. And thousands and millions in every age of the 
Church have borne testimony and do yet bear it, to the 
truth that " God is not willing that any should perish but 
that all should come to repentance." That there is no dis- 
tinction between Jew and Gentile ; Christian, so called, or 
heathen, but '' whoever shall call on the name of the Lord 
shall be saved." 

But just on this point another difficulty arises. We may 
believe that the atonement was sufficient as to its value, and 
that God has accepted it in a sense, and that in respect to a 
certain number it will infallibly avail, but we ask was it 
sufficient and intended for all ? Perhaps it was meant only 
for a certain definite portion of the human family, and then 
how can I know that I belong to that portion. To meet 
this difficulty the Scriptures plainly teach that Christ Jesus 
" by the grace of God tasted death for every man," and 
that not merely for every kind of men, for some of every 
class, sex, age, nation, etc., but in the simple, natural, literal 



THE EIGHTEOUSNESS OF GOD. 267 

sense of the words. To prove which we need only refer 
you to the second chapter of first Timothy, where the apos- 
tle directs that "" supplications, prayers, intercessions and 
giving of thanks be made for all men ;" specifying particu- 
larly "kings and all that are in authority," and giving as 
the ground on which such intercession is proper, that " this 
is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Saviour, who 
will have all men to be saved and come to the knowledge 
of the truth." 

And as if this were not sufficiently plain and decisive, he 
mentions the ground on which this benevolent will of God 
rests, namely, on the fact that they are all alike His crea- 
tures: "For," says he, "there is one God," of the whole 
human family, "and one Mediator between God. and men, 
the man Christ Jesus," " who," as he significantly adds, 
" gave Himself a ransom for all, to be testified in due ti'tneP 
But in every part of Scripture the universality of the atone- 
ment — that it was made for the whole family of Adam, for 
man as man, sinful and fallen through Adam, is either ex- 
pressed or clearly implied. Speaking of the resurrection at 
the last day, the apostle says, " As in Adam all die, so in 
Christ shall all be made alive." ISTow we do not suppose 
that only the righteous are to be raised, but the wicked, the 
finally impenitent likewise. But why ? To show that what- 
ever efiect the fall of Adam had upon them, it was made 
up and more than made up to them in Christ. 

Therefore the apostle could say to the idolatrous Atheni- 
ans : " The times of ignorance God winked at, but now 
commandeth all men every where to repent, because He 
hath appointed a day in the which He will judge the world 
in righteousness by that man whom He bath ordained." 
Bnt how could the judgment of the wicked be assigned to 
Christ, had Ht^ not died for them as well as for the righte- 



268 THE EIGHTEOUSNESS OF GOD. 

ous ? Therefore, the Saviour says Himself, that the Father 
" hath given Him authority to execute judgment also, be 
cause He is the Son of man," that is, the second man, the 
second representative of the human race upon whom was 
laid the iniquity of us all. 

But it is further evident, also, that some wdll be among 
the lost, for whom Christ died, as St. Peter warns against 
false teachers who would " bring in damnable heresies," 
going so far as even to " deny the Lord that bought them, 
and bringing upon themselves swift destruction." 

To the same purpose are the words of St. Paul : " He 
that despised Moses' law died without mercy under two or 
three witnesses : of how much sorer punishment, suppose 
ye, shall he be thought Avorthy, who hath trodden under 
foot the Son of God, and hath counted the blood of the cov- 
enant wherewith he was sanctified an unholy thing and hath 
done despite unto the spirit of grace ?" 

Xow, to render such an awful crime possible, he who com- 
mits it must have been redeemed by the blood of Christ ; it 
must have been shed for him as well as for others. And to 
suppose, as some do, that such a case as the apostle has in 
view is not possible, is to charge him with having given him- 
self a very useless piece of trouble in so solemnly warning 
men against an impossible crime. In short, why will the pun- 
ishment of sinners under the gospel be more severe, as all 
admit, than of any other class of the impenitent, if they had 
no share or interest in the atonement ? Then what right 
had Christ to say that " God sent not His Son into the 
world to condemn the world, but that the world through 
Him might be saved ?" or how could He say that the ground 
of men's condemnation would be that "light had come into 
the world, but men loved darkness rather than light," and 
therefore would not come to the light ? 



THE RIGHTEOUSNESS OF GOD. 2G9 

But this difficulty removed, another will be started. 
Miud I do not speak here of the cavils, the excuses, and 
pretenses brouglit forward by such as do not care to receive 
the truth, whose only object is to get rid of our importu- 
nity when pressing upon them the claims of the gospel. 
We have such in view as feel a degree of anxiety about 
their soul's salvation, who have honest doubts and difficulties 
resting on their minds and which we would fain remove so 
that they may see their way clear for a thankful acceptance 
of the grace of God, so freely offered, so ready to be be- 
stowed. 

The next question, therefore, will be. Though the offer of 
divine grace is general, yet have I, such a sinner as I have 
been, a right to put in a claim ? Have not I sinned past 
recovery; who have had so many offers, have enjoyed so 
many privileges, have abused so many mercies, have sinned 
against such clear light, such powerful convictions and stri- 
vings of the Holy Spirit, such repeated resolutions to re- 
pent and turn to the Lord ? Here vre must acknowledge 
there is a difficulty, hard to be met. 

We are no longer able as in the former questions to state 
the case absolutely. We dare not say that there is not a 
possibility of a man's having sinned away his day of grace 
before he draws his last breath; nor could we say ab- 
solutely that such was not the case with one or the other 
who might put the questions we have just instanced. We 
read of those whom it is impossible to renew unto repent- 
ance. But then, these are such as had made some consid- 
erable progress in the Christian life, and then apostatized 
wholly and openly. 

We read also, as in a quotation already given of such as 
consider the blood of the covenant an unholy thing, and as 
" do despite unto the spirit of grace." But while it is said 



270 THE KIGHTEOUSNESS OF GOD. 

that they are deserving of the severest punishment, far 
worse than the Mosaic law could impose, which could go 
no further in its penalty than to inflict a violent death, yet 
it does not say that these sins may not be forgiven, provided 
a man repents. True, the apostle had just before said that 
" if we sin willfully after that we have received the knowl- 
edge of the truth there remaineth no more, no other sacri- 
fice for sins," but by this you are to understand a voluntary 
and open apostasy from the truth after having possessed 
faith in Christ, and shared in the benefits of His salvation. 
True, also, that there are others who, without having made 
any christian profession, have hardened themselves so long 
and so often, that the probability of their repentance — with- 
out almost a miracle — becomes very slight. But this does 
not imply that the grace of God was never intended for 
them, or even that it is not still open to their acceptance, if 
they will earnestly apply for it. 

It is, that the means which God employs to bring sinners 
to repentance have been made use of, but without produc- 
ing the desired effect, while we have no right to expect 
that He will employ other means that might be more effec- 
tual, though neither yet are we to limit His power or His 
grace. His power is infinite, and what is impossible with 
men is not therefore impossible with God ; and as to His 
gracious purposes, we know that His ways are not our ways, 
nor His thoughts our thoughts; but as the heaven is higher 
than the earth, so are His ways higher than our ways, and 
His thoughts than our thoughts. So that if a man earnestly 
desires salvation, there is no doubt nor question that he can 
obtain it ; for the promise stands on record, and we need 
but claim it in faith to obtain the blessing — " Ask and ye 
shall receive. Seek and ye shall find, Knock and it shall be 
• pened unto you." 



THE EIGHTEOUSNESS OF GOD. 271 

Indeed, it is they who feel themselves most unworthy, 
and who, accordingly, are most afraid that they will be re- 
jected to whom the sweetest and most precious promises 
are made. Such are the following, '' Blessed are the poor in 
spirit," with which our Lord opens the beatitudes, assuring us 
that "theirs is the kingdom of heaven." Again "The sacri- 
fices of God are a broken spirit, a broken and a contrite heart, 
O God, Thou wilt not despise." " Thus saith the High and 
Holy One, that inhabiteth eternity, whose name is Holy ; I 
dwell in the high and holy place : with him also that is of a 
contrite and humble spirit, to revive the spirit of the hum- 
ble and to revive the heart of the contrite ones." And we 
are almost ready to take back what w^e said a little while 
ago, and to assert in its stead that none are more likely to 
find salvation than those who are afraid that they come too 
late ; provided, however, that the sense of their un worthi- 
ness do not drive them away from the Saviour, but lead 
them, as it ought, to put their sole trust in Him. 

Indeed, no one will in earnest apply to Him until he is 
truly convinced that there is absolutely no help for him 
from any other quarter, and that if the Saviour should re- 
ject him, he would be irrecoverably lost. But such are 
just the souls whom He stands ready to help, to whom He 
still calls, " Come unto me all ye that labor and are heavy 
laden, and I will give you rest." 

But the case may be of a more dangerous character. 
You may fear that such is the difficulty of your case, such 
the power of habit and the depravity of your heart that you 
do not believe that Christ Himself can do any thing for you. 
This was the sin of the Israelites when they tempted God 
and said, " Behold He smote the rock, that the waters 
gushed out and the streams overflowed ; (but) can He give 
bread also, can He provide flesh for His people ?" There- 



272 THE RIGHTEOUSXESS OF GOD. 

fore the Saviour put this question to some that came to 
Him for help : " Believe ye that I am able to do this ?" 
He does not require that vre should absolutely believe that 
He is willing, as we learn from the case of the leper who 
addressed Him with : " Lord, if Thou wilt, Thou canst make 
me clean. And He said, I will, Be thou clean." Only so 
far we must trust to His willingness as to apply to Him, 
We may come with trembling and with fear of being re- 
jected — yet we shall not be disappointed; for He has said 
Himself: " Him that cometh mito me, I will in no wise cast 
out." All that is required is that we should have such a 
sense of our perishing condition, as will lead us to cry out 
in earnest, as the blind beggar Bartimeus, " Jesus, Thou 
Son of David, have mercy on me." Such He has never 
failed to help and to heal. 

Another question now remains to be met, and that is, can 
the sinner, and must he do anything himself in order to ob- 
tain a share in the promised salvation ? This must be an- 
swered in two very different ways, according to what is the 
intent of it. If it means, can the sinner, and must he con- 
tribute any thing in the way of price or work to the cost 
of his salvation, then we answer, Xo, nothing at all ; nay, so 
long as he expects to do any such thmg, he will surely be 
rejected. This is just the last obstacle, when a sinner has 
been brought almost to repent. He still hopes to do some- 
thing, be it ever so little, towards bearing the expenses of 
his deliverance. 

But on these terms Christ will never consent to be his 
Saviour. He will do the whole work and have the whole 
credit of it, or He will not do any thing. He will not give 
His glory to another. Indeed, He has paid the full price 
of our ransom, and now requires only that we receive it as 
His free gift, without money and without price. This is 



THE RIGHTEOUSNESS OP GOD. 273 

just the point so strongly insisted on by the apostle in our 
epistle, that we are "justified by faith without works." 
The two, indeed, he assures us are incompatible. It must 
be either grace alone or works alone by which we are justi- 
fied. Works^ on the sole condition of perfect sinlessness 
and never for a moment failing in our duty, or grace as an 
act of free, undeserved favor ; as free as pardon to a con- 
victed criminal, as food furnished to a starving beggar. 

But if it is meant whether we are to sit still till God see 
fit in His good pleasure to convert us, or are to set out at 
once to go to Christ, at His call — that is, to pray, to medi- 
itate, to resolve — then we answer that we must go to Christ, 
as soon as we hear of Him and are made to feel our need of 
Him. We are at once to repent, to acknowledge our past 
guilt, to trust to Christ for forgiveness, to enter upon a new 
life of obedience, to renounce every idol and forsake every 
sinful practice ; to omit no known duty, to commit no 
known sin. We must make the word of God our daily 
study, looking for the aid of the Holy Spirit to enable us 
rightly to understand and apply it ; as well as to enable us 
to do what we are commanded. For in and of ourselves 
we can not do any thing. But God has promised to give 
His Holy Spirit to them that ask Him. Christ has prom- 
ised to come in, if we open the door to Him. But especi- 
ally we must pray, earnestly, importunately, believingly. 
In order to this, we must particularly study the promises. 
What God has promised, we may rest assured He will per- 
form. But He has told us, too, that He will be inquired of 
for these things. " The promise is to him that asks, that 
seeks, that knocks." Our Saviour, by the parable of the un- 
just judge and the iraportnnate w^idow, teaches us that 
" men ought always to pray and never to fliint." 

He has given us many exceeding great and precious prom- 

12^ 



274 THE EIGHTEOUSXESS OF GOD. 

ises which we may plead, and shall successfully plead, if we . 
but pray in earnest, and in firm reliance on the truthful- 
ness and faithfuhiess of God. He " said not to the house of 
Jacob, Seek ye my flice in vain. He is near to all that call 
upon Him — to all that call upon Him in truth. TThosoeyer 
shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be sayed." 

This stands recorded in the word of the Lord. Who is 
there that belieyes it ; that will act upon the strength of it ; 
that will at once, even now, cast himself simjjly and con 
fidingly upon this divine declaration ? It is this faith that 
honors God and which He will " count to us for righteous- 
ness " as He did to Abraham. 

And here all stand on a footing. "The just," who has 
been an adopted, acknowledged child of God for half a cen- 
tury or longer, shall live by his faith and by nothing else. 
And the sinner who has spent his threescore years and ten 
in rebellion against his Maker, if he now believes, he is from 
this moment justified as well as the other — as fully, as com- 
pletely, as absolutely. 

There are no degrees in this matter. You are either jus- 
tified or you are not. Which are you, my friend ? Exam- 
ine yourself by the rule of God's word. Seek for the evi- 
dence of your acceptance. There may be, and are, diflerent 
degrees of assurance, depending upon a variety of causes. 
But there are no degrees in the matter of our justification. 
'' He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life, and he 
that believeth not tlie Son shall not see life, but the wrath 
of God abideth on iiini." 

A few refi.ections will close our present discourse. And 
first we may learn from the subject discussed, that the gos- 
pel method of salvation — ^justification by faith without the 
works of the law — is the only one by which the human mind 
can be satisfied, and the conscience pacified, and a sincere 



THE RIGHTEOUSNESS OF GOD. 275 

and operative love to God produced in the heart ; as the 
apostle says, " We love Him because He first loved us." 
All other schemes, even though professedly derived from the 
gospel, can at best only show a cold morality and spurious 
virtue, from which selfishness is not excluded, while the gos- 
pel begins with cutting down self in all its ramifications, 
and purifying the springs of action. 

Finally^ he that is inaccessible to the motives for holy 
obedience which the gospel holds out, is past being helped 
by God or man — his case is desperate ; his ruin inevitable. 
May God preserve us from so unhappy a fate ! 



SERMON XVI. 

THE CEETAINTY OF SALVATION. 

"For it is God which worketh in you, both to will and to do of His good 
pleasure." — Philippians, ii. 13. 

There are many things calculated to discourage the 
Christian in his course. His enemies are numerous, power- 
ful, and unwearied in their attempts to turn him out of the 
path of persevering obedience. He is often made to feel 
his own weakness, and when he has been struggling for 
years against some evil habit, he may in an unguarded hour 
lose apparently all the fruits of a long course of self-denying 
exertion. 

'Thus eventual victory seems often as doubtful toward the 
close of a pious life as it did at its commencement. Nay, 
from a more thorough experience of the deceitfulness of his 
heart, the aged christian will place far less reliance upon his 
own resolution than the novice, who, like a raw recruit, has 
never yet been engaged in any very desperate encounter. 

But, on the other hand, the experienced soldier knows 
better than the other where his strength lies, and what is 
the sole condition of successful fight. He has learned the 
import and value of the Saviour's declaration : " Without 
me ye can do nothing." While he has learned to be dis- 
trustful of himself and his own heart, which has so often 
show^n itself to be deceitful and desperately wicked, he has 
also learned to trust more implicitly in Him who has said, 
"I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee." This confi- 



THE CERTAINTY OF SALVATION. 277 

dence in the faithfulneKSS, power, and grace of his ahnighty 
Saviour, is what girds him with strength and courage for 
the battle. Like Paul, he can say, " I know whom I have 
believed, and am persuaded that He is able to keep that 
which I have committed unto Him unto that day." But it 
is evident that his comfort, if not his success, must depend 
on the strength of this conviction. And it will be profit- 
able for us, my brethren, to seek to deepen this persuasion in 
our hearts, that we may never grow faint nor weary in doing 
and suffering the whole will of God. 

For this end the words of our text will furnish a suitable 
subject of pious meditation. 

" For," says the apostle, after having exhorted the Phil- 
ippian Christians to renewed energy in working out their 
own salvation, "/br it is God which worJceth in you^ both to 
will and to do of His good pleasure?'^ 

May the Lord bless our meditations upon this solemn and 
comforting truth ! 

We derive from the words of the apostle the truth that. 

Final success is insured to every true follower op 
Christ; which we shall enforce from the threefold con- 
sideration that this success rests upon the power^ good 
pleasure^ and promise of God^ as set forth in our text. 

We shall consider these three points in an inverted order, 
and then make such application as the subject may present 
and the Lord permit. 

The Christian, then, is sure of eventual victory in conse- 
quence of the promise of God, 

The reliableness of the divine promise is set forth in 
strong language by St. Paul in the sixth chaper of the He- 
brews, where he says, after observing that when God would 
make a promise to Abraham " because He could swear by 
no greater. He sware by. Himself," " wherein (adds he) 



278 THE CERTAINTY OF SaLVATION. 

God, willing more abundantly to show unto the heirs of 
promise the immutability of His counsel, confirmed it by an 
oath ; that by two immutable things, in which it was im- 
possible for God to lie, we might have a strong consolation, 
who have fled for refuge to lay hold upon the hope set be- 
fore us." 

As the whole matter of our salvation, so far as we have 
anything to do towards it, depends from first to last upon 
our faith, our confidence in the veracity of God, and our 
reliance upon His promise, He has in His infinite kindness 
given the most convincing proof of His earnest desire to 
save us ; and of His sincerity in offering salvation as His 
free gift in Christ. 

For this end He gave that early promise to our first pa- 
rents immediately after the fall, that the seed of the wo- 
man should bruise the serpent's head ; a promise repeated 
and renewed under various forms and under difierent dis- 
pensations, but becoming more and more distinct as the 
time approached, when the Saviour, long predicted, should 
appear in our world. And when Christ was born at the ap- 
pointed time and place, though He came not with outward 
pomp and earthly greatness, yet He carried with Him all 
the credentials that a candid mind in search of the truth 
could require. 

In His public teachings and miraculous acts ; in His vi- 
carious death for the sins of men, and His glorious resurrec- 
tion, by which He was powerfully declared to be the Son 
of God ; by the rapid spread of the gospel from Jerusalem 
till it reached the ends of the earth, — in all this a vast num- 
ber of prophecies had their fulfillment, too numerous and 
too minute, and too literally accomplished to leave the least 
room for cavil, doubt, or fear, that it might have been mere 
chance, or human craft and cunning ; — prophecies, in part, 



THE CEETAINTY OF SALVATION. 279 

already fulfilled, but iu part still going into visible fulfill- 
ment, and bidding fair before long to issue in the most glo- 
rious and stupendous events that the world has witnessed. 

But, accommodating His revelations to the necessities of 
man, God has conveyed to us the assurance of His readiness 
to save and bless all that would confide in Him, under the 
form of a covenant. Such was the manner in which He 
communicated His purpose to Abraham, as recorded in the 
loth chapter of Genesis, and renewed the same about four- 
teen years after, as we read in the 17th chapter of the 
same book, at the same time giving him the sign of circum- 
cision for the seal thereof. And so binding was this meant 
to be, that the apostle confidently asserts that this covenant 
made with Abraham, the law, or the Mosaic dispensation, 
which was not given till 430 years later, could not annul or 
make of none efifect. 

The same covenant still stands firm, being ratified by the 
death of Christ, the Lamb of God, and open for all to join, 
that will, unto the end of time. And thousands and tens 
of thousands have ventured their all upon it, and have found 
that God was true, and that every tittle of what He has 
promised He has never failed to fulfill. As the promises 
concerning a Saviour to come, of which the Old Testament 
is full, were all accomplished when Christ was born in Beth- 
lehem of Judea, when He lived and taught among men, 
and died the ignominious death of crucifixion, and rose 
again on the third predicted morning. Just so, we may be 
sure, all that is foretold of the final success of His cause, 
and His future reign over all the earth, and the complete 
dehverance of all His followers and their eventual blessed- 
ness in heaven, will be accomplished in due time. 

Whatever God has promised has always come to pass at 
the rio'ht moment and in the best manner. Xo one can 



280 THE CERTAIXTT OF SALTATION'. 

justly charge the Almighty with a failure of His word ; and 
there is nothing He will consider as a greater insult to His 
majesty than to doubt His truth. But, as if to remove the 
last and least particle of doubt from every mind as to the 
certainty of His covenant, He confirmed the same by an 
oath, as the most solemn form of asseveration which could 
be employed. As the apostle says, " Seeing He could 
swear by no greater, He sware by Himself.'' 

And this covenant so confirmed, contains all that is neces- 
sary for salvation. It provides a sufiicient atonement for 
the sins of the whole world, if the whole world could be 
induced to avail itself of its advantages ; for we are ex- 
pressly told that Christ Jesus is the propitiation not for the 
sins of believers only, but for the sins of the whole world, 
so that whosoever will, may come and take of the waters 
of life freely. And if thus there is provision made for our 
recovery from that state of alienation and enmity in which 
all men lie by natm-e, no less, yea, much rather, is there ad- 
equate provision for the jDerfect restoration of all that have 
fled to Christ for refuge. '' He is become the Author of 
eternal salvation to as many as obey Him." " For if," as the 
apostle reasons, " when we were enemies we were reconcil- 
ed to God by the death of His Son, much more, being rec- 
onciled we shall be saved by His life." Or, as St. Peter 
speaks, " According as His divine power hath given unto 
us all things that pertain unto life and godliness, through 
the knowledge of Him that hath called us to glory and vir- 
tue ; whereby are given unto us exceeding great and pre- 
cious promises, that by these ye might be partakers of the 
divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the 
world through lust." 

If, therefore, we have laid hold of the promise by faitli, 
we may feel sure that it will not fail ; for '' God is iaithful, 



TUE CERTAINTY OF SALVATIOl^. 281 

who has promised," and none have ever had reason to com- 
plain of being forsaken, who have claimed the promise 
agreeably to its intention. " If we believe not, yet He 
abideth faithful, He can not deny Himself." His promise 
stands equally firm, whether one or a thousand apply to 
Flim. In Christ Jesus there is a fullness adapted to our 
every want, and the promise is as large as our greatest 
need. "The gift of God is eternal life," " and this life is in 
His Son." " He that hath the Son hath life. He that hath 
not the Son of God shall not see light, but the wrath of 
God abideth on him." 

The promise is that God Himself will work in us to will 
and to do. Did om^ success depend upon ourselves, we 
might well despair. But when God Himself has under- 
taken our cause, what need of fear. True, we are often 
made most sensibly to feel our weakness. But then it 
is that we may be led to trust more simply and implicitly 
in the power and grace of our Almighty Saviour. 

We are often foiled in our struggle with temptation. 
But the only reason is because we trusted in our own heart, 
though so often deceived by it, while such as wait on the 
Lord shall find their strength renewed for every contest. 
True, the trials often come thick upon us, till we feel faint 
and ready to give up all further resistance. But this is only 
to test our faith still more; and we may feel assured that 
not a single temptation will be sufiTered to befall us, but 
what there will be a way of escape, and we shall be able to 
bear it, provided only we let not go our confidence in the 
Lord, " which has great recompense of reward." 

Let us but for a moment represent to ourselves that the 
Lord is fighting for us as surely as He did for Israel when 
they were led out of Egypt, and vrhat possible cause for 
fear can there be for us ? Is any thing too hard for the 



282 THE CERTAINTY OF SALVATION. 

Lord ? Is any foe too powerful for His arm to subdue ? 
And have we not the promise that it is " God that worketh 
in us both to will and to do of His good pleasure." 

If He has begun a good work in any of us, we may feel 
assured He will also carry it on unto its completion, if only 
we do not perversely resist His gracious operations on our 
hearts. And though we may fall we shall not be left desti- 
tute of help, but when we cry unto Him, we shall find Him 
to be near to heal and to comfort. What the heathens fa- 
bled of the sons of earth, that when wounded in the fight, 
as soon as they touched their mother (the ground) their 
strength was at once restored, is no fable when applied to 
Christians, who how severely soever they may be wounded 
in their contest with the powers of darkness, no sooner 
touch the hem of Christ's garment by faith, than their spir- 
itual strength is renewed, and they are fresh for another 
struggle. The Church with all its true members can still 
use the language of the prophet : " Rejoice not against me 
O mine enemy ; when I fall I shall arise ; when I sit in 
darkness the Lord shall be a light unto me." Or, in the 
words of another of God's anointed ones: "Lord, Thou 
wilt ordain peace for us; for Thou also hast wrought all our 
works in us." 

Therefore David exhorts the people of God in strains of 
holy exaltation: "Give thanks unto the Lord; call upon 
His name, make known His deeds among the jDeople ; sing 
unto Him, sing psalms unto Him, talk ye of all His won- 
drous works. Glory ye in His holy name ; let the heart of 
them rejoice that seek the Lord. Seek the .Lord and His 
strength ; seek His face continually. Be ye mindful always 
of His covenant, the word which He commanded to a 
thousand generations." 

In short, God has engaged to carry us through if we will 



THE CERTAINTY OF SALVATION. 283 

but follow the Great Captain of salvation. And need we 
fear, can we doubt of the issue ? His word is passed, and 
can we not rely upon it ? 

But to confirm our hopes still more, let us meditate sec- 
ondly that it is " of His good pleasure." 

This term, which frequently occurs in Sacred Writ, has 
a two-fold meaning, though always united when applied to 
God. The one, and probably the original and fundamental 
one is, that of will, determination. Thus, in that affecting 
address of our Lord to His heavenly Father, recorded in 
the 11th chapter of St. Mathew, He says, in reference to 
the fact that God has made known His wise and gracious 
purposes to the humble and simple souls that believe Him 
on His mere word, while they are hid from those who pride 
themselves upon their native powers of reasoning and inves- 
tigation : '' Even so, Father," says He, " for so it seemed 
good in Thy sight," or, as it might be rendered, " Such 
was Thy good pleasure." 

The other idea entering into the meaning of the word is 
that of kindness and benevolence. Thus it is the same 
word, viz., good-will, which occurs in the angel's song heard 
by the shepherds on the plains of Bethlehem. '' Glory to 
God in the highest, and on earth peace ; good-will toward 
men ! " So that the word as used in reference to God sig- 
nifies His benevolent purpose over the human race, mani- 
fested in Christ Jesus. What this purpose was we are 
more fully informed in the epistle to the Ephesians, than in 
any single part of Scripture, of which we will read a por- 
tion. (Ephesians, i. 1-2, 10.) 

It may be as well to consider this gracious purpose of 
God respecting our race separately, under its two aspects. 
And first, as His eternal decree. In this respect we are 
taught that it formed a part, and an important one, of the 



284 THE CEETAINTT OF SALVATION". 

original purpose of God in creating the world, to pro- 
vide a Saviour for ruan, whose fall was foreseen by God from 
all eternity. We need not encumber ourselves with the 
question which formerly excited no little debate in some 
parts of the Christian Church, whether that fall was fore- 
ordained ; for this could only be said in the sense that it 
was permitted when foreseen, which no one in his senses 
would di-pute ; or that God, by placing Adam in circum- 
stances under which He foresaw that He would undoubt- 
edly fall, might be said so far to have ordained that fall ; 
or, lastly, even if it were ordained, in the strict sense, 
it was with a view to open the way for the redemp- 
tion of the. human race by the incarnation and vicari- 
ous sufferings of the Son of God, and thus giving to the 
world the brightest display of divine benevolence, in that 
exercise of it which we term mercy, as well as of the most 
consummate wisdom, in contriving and executing a plan on 
which, without any injury done to the holiness and justice 
of God, nor, on the other hand, to the freedom of the human 
will, the glory of God and the salvation of man might be 
combined in indissoluble bonds. 

Now, such being the divine purpose, "the good pleasur^e 
of His will," as the apostle terms it, need we have any fears 
that this purpose shall not be eventually and fully carried 
into effect ? Need we apprehend that in any individual 
case, which comes under this purpose, God will fail in the 
execution ? 

And if yon ask who they are that are included in the pur- 
pose of God, whom He has predestinated to be conformed 
to the image of His Son, the same apostle tells us in plain 
terms in the first chapter of first Corinthians, that "after 
that, in the wisdom of God the world by wisdom knew not 
God, it pleased God," it was His good pleasure, the same 



THE CERTAINTY OF SALVATION. 285 

word essentially as in our text and in the other passages we 
have quoted, ^'^ it pleased Godhj the foolishness of preach- 
ing," so esteemed by the world, " to save them that be- 
lieve." Or as it it is exjDressed by the beloved disciple in 
the first chapter of his gospel : " but as many as received 
Him, to them gave He power," — the right and privilege as 
well as ability — " to become the sons of God, even to them 
that believe on His name." 

Indeed, the same idea is conveyed in the passage from 
Ephesians that we have read, in these words: "In whom 
also we have obtained an inheritance, being predestinated 
according to the working of Him who worketh all things 
according to the counsel of His own will, that we should 
be to the praise of His glory who first trusted in Christ." 
Here, evidently, their foreseen trusting in Christ is repre- 
sented as the ground on which their being predestinated to 
the inheritance of the saints is founded. 

Hence we are taught to consider the divine predestina- 
tion in a two-fold point of view. First, as general^ that 
" whosoever believeth on the Son of God shall not perish 
but have everlasting life ;" and secondly, as particular : 
John, Peter, Paul, etc., have believed on Christ, hence they 
are included in that act of predestination, formed from eter- 
nity by Him to whom all things from everlasting to ever- 
lasting are all at one glance present. 

And now, in order to know whether you or I are in- 
cluded in this decree of predestination, all we have to 
do, all indeed we can do, is to ascertain whether we have 
faith, and whether our faith is of the right stamp, " for 
the devils also believe and tremble;" a faith, in sliort, that 
" worketh by love," or is energetic in active proofs of love 
to the brethren as evidence of our Icve to God. For " if 
any man say I love God and hateth his brother, he is a 



286 THE CERTAINTY OF SALVATION. 

liar ; for he that loveth not his brother whom he hath seen, 
how can he love God whom he hath not seen ?" 

But you may ask, How can I know that I shall persevere 
in the faith to the end ? I answer, God has not seen fit to 
tell us this only conditionally, that is by our holding our 
confidence steadfast unto the end of life. If the apostle ex- 
pressed his fears that after having preached unto others he 
might himself be a cast-away, surely we need not seek for 
more positive information than he had. 

But we learn that by a proper course of obedience and 
activity we may attain to a comfortable degree of assur- 
ance, which, indeed, we are directed to seek. And St. 
Peter tells us in express terms, after having recommended 
a due degree of diligence in " adding to our faith, virtue, 
knowledge, temperance, patience, godliness, brotherly kind- 
ness, charity," that if we " do these things " we '' shall 
never fall ;" admonishing ns at the same time by such a 
course of well-doing " to give all diligence to make our 
calling and election sure." And he that seeks for assurance 
on other than the Scriptural grounds, will be very likely to 
deceive himself. 

And even on the view of such as hold, " once in grace 
always in grace," if they will not fall into an unscriptural 
and dangerous error they must qualify it by supposing that 
we can never be sure of being really in a state of grace till 
we come to heaven, which is not calculated to yield as much 
comfort as the plain Scriptural doctrine on the subject as 
we have just been stating it. Let us, then, be satisfied with 
what God has plainly declared in His word, convinced that 
either a different sort of assurance or a different degree of 
it than He has been pleased to afford, would neither be safe 
nor profitable for us. 

Of this we may be certain, that nothing is or will be 



THE CEETAIXTY OF SALTATION. 287 

wanting on the part of God to ensure our salvation, if we 
have once laid hold on the promise, and that unless we pur- 
posely and voluntarily quit His service, no power of earth 
or hell can sever us from His love aud favor. Hence the 
apostle, in the eighth chapter of Romans, so triumphantly 
exclaims : " What shall we, then, say to these things ?" he 
had been speaking of this very subject — the divine purpose 
in predestinating believers to glory. '' If God be for us, 
who can be against us ? He that spared not His own Sou, 
but delivered Him up for us all, how shall He not with Him 
also freely give us all things ?" Here we see that our pre- 
destination rests upon the fact that Christ died for all — for 
He is the propitiation, as St. John says, '' for our sins, and 
not for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world." 
*^ Who shall lay any thing ?" St. Foul continues, ''to the 
charge of God's elect ? It is God that jastilieth." But who 
are the elect ? The eleventh chapter of the same epistle will 
tell us, " Even so, then, at this present time also there is a 
remnant according to the election of grace. And if by grace 
then is it no more of works.*' How is it, then ? " There- 
fore it is of faith that it miojht be o-race." "The rio-hte- 
ousness of God is by faith of Jesus Christ, unto all and 
upon all them that believe, for there is no difference." Xo 
distinction is made. The grace of God is offered alike to 
all, for all need it alike, "for all have sinned and come short 
of the glory of God." 

And all that by faith have laid hold on the hope set be- 
fore them, may rejoice with the apostle in his triumphant 
song : " Who is he that condemnetli ? It is Christ that died, 
yea, rather that is risen again, who is even at the right 
hand of God ; who also maketh mtercession for us. Who 
shall separate us from the love of Christ" — deprive us of His 
love or cause our love to Him to be quenched ? Shall trib- 



288 THE CEPcTAIXTY OF SJULTATIOX. 

Illation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, 
or peril, or sword ? as it is written for thy sake we are 
killed all the day long — we are counted as sheep for the 
slaughtei'. Xay, in all these things we are more than con- 
querors, tln-ough Him that hath loved us, provided we con- 
tinue in His love, by keeping His commandments as He 
Himself admonishes His apostles and us no less. " For I 
am persuaded,*- adds the apostle at the close of his enrap- 
tured exclamation, '• that neither death, nor hfe, nor angels, 
nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things 
to come, nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, 
shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is 
in Christ Jesus our Lord." Yet we find the same apostle 
saying to his Roman brethren a little further down : '* Thou 
standest by faith. Be not high minded but fear; for if God 
spared not the natural branches, take heed lest He also 
spare not thee.*' 

We are safe, therelore, in so far as nothing can tear us 
from Christ, while we do not willfully forsake Him. And 
if we fall into sin. we shall not be left unchecked. He will 
employ various means, and severe ones, too, if nothing less 
will serve to brmg us back, if we have wandered from His 
fold. And while we are walking, though it be with totter- 
ing steps, in the path trodden by Christ the path of self- 
denying love, we need not fear that we shall be finally lost. 

It is only those that grow careless and secure, that go 
back from following Christ, either on account of trials and 
dangers to which a consistent walk and j^rofession would 
expose them ; or by being entangled in the cares and snares 
of this world, by which they are prevented from bringing 
any fruit to perfection ; or such as give way to spiritual 
pride, and think they have a stock of righteousness of their 
own on which to depend, that are in danger of faUing ; 



THE CEETAIXTY OF SALVATIOX. 289 

though all need to be constantly on their guard ; for there 
are times when temptation comes suddenly and from an un- 
expected quarter, like the net that encloses the birds be- 
fore they have time to take wing. But by daily commend- 
ing ourselves to the guardian care of our gracious Saviour, 
and faithfully following where He calls, we shall be able to 
escape all the best laid snares of the fowler. Above all 
things* we must take care that we are not caught by the 
abuse of lawful things ; that we suffer not our affections to 
center on earth ; but that we be constantly engaged to lay 
up treasure in heaven, and to have our hearts and affections 
there, by frequent meditation upon the joys that await the 
faithful soldiers of the cross. 

But, in the third place^ what ensures the safety of the be- 
liever is not only the promise and ]3urpose, but also the 
power of God. 

This power is manifest in all the wonders of Creation 
and Providence. And by meditating much upon these, we 
shall come to the comfortable conviction that He is able to 
sustain us under all circumstances, even as He sustained the 
whole nation of Israel for forty years in the wilderness, by a 
constant miracle, in supplying them with manna from day to 
day. Or as He caused the waters of Jordan to stand on a 
heap till they had all crossed dry-shod. The ordinary ben- 
efits of His Prowlence Ave experience daily, and often, too, 
shall we have to speak of remarJcable deliverances, if we will 
but give due heed to these things. 

Xo less is the power of God exerted in the spiritual 
world. Here, if possible, it is still more true than in the 
world of sense and nature, that " in Him we live and move 
and have our being." Or rather it is only by a more con- 
scious living, and moving, and having our whole spiritual 
being in God and Christ that we truly live. Thus, the 

13 



290 THE CERTAIXTY OF SALTATION. 

apostle speaking of his christian experience says : '' I am 
crucified with Christ, nevertheless I live ; yet not I, but 
Christ liveth in me ; and the life which I now live in the 
flesh, I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me 
and gave Himself for me." 

Hence Christ says of Himself: ''I am the way, and the 
truth, and the life ; no man cometh unto the Father but by 
me." Again, ^' He that eateth my flesh and drinketli my 
blood, dwelleth in me and I in Him." It is only this con- 
scious union with Christ that can yield a satisfactory assur- 
ance to our minds that we belong to Him. It is by being 
grafted into Him as branches in the vine, that we can bear 
fruit, and only while we continue so grafted, for " without 
me," He says, "ye can-do nothing." 

But through and from Him a divine power is infused into 
the soul of every true believer, like the rich sap rising from 
the root of the vine, and circulating through all the 
branches. And thus we are enabled to live and act like 
Him, and thus, too, to evidence to the world as well as to 
our own hearts that we are His. And it is by faith that we 
are united to Him; that is, a firm persuasion that He is able 
and willing to save all that come unto Him ; an humble, 
yet strong trust in His power to heal all oar spiritual dis- 
eases, such as was displayed by those that came to Him in 
the days of His flesh to be healed of various bodily ailments. 
And as there never was any case brought before Him that 
transcended His power, and all that He required on the part 
of the applicants was faith; so it is yet. Would we enjoy 
His all-powerful aid, we must believe ! Believe that He 
was sent for this very purpose, " to seek and to save those 
that were lost : " JBelieve that He has power to forgive sins, 
even the most heinous sins, of long standing and aggravated 
by a thousand circumstances, such as that they have been 



THE CERTAINTY OF SALVATION. 291 

committed against our own conscience, against light and 
knowledge, and our better resolutions: sins, numerous as 
the grains of sand, vile and poisonous as hell — yet all 
may be forgiven, provided we repent and believe. 

" I am not ashamed," says the apostle, " of the gospel of 
Christ, for it is the power of God unto salvation to every 
one that believeth." And in our text he reminds believers 
that it is " God that worketh in them both to will and to do 
of His good pleasure." By conversion the soul is opened 
to receive the divine influences which are ever ready to be 
infused into us. Before, they were around us but we re- 
ceived them not ; as the dead corpse can not inhale the 
breath of this animal life. But when in regeneration life is 
restored, then do we breathe the breath of spiritual life. 
The Spirit of God enters into the heart and takes possession 
and renews the soul, and gives sensibility to the spiritual 
frame. A spiritual appetite is produced, to which St. Peter 
alludes, when he recommends that " as new-born babes " 
we should " desire the sincere milk of the word that " we 
" may grow thereby." And thus, though in and of our- 
selves we continue feeble, yet we are strong in the might 
of the Lord ; and if we diligently improve our strength, we 
shall be able to do valiantly for our God and for His people. 

The reason why so many fail of accomplishing any thing 
for Christ is that they look only on themselves, and feeling 
themselves to be weak as they actually are, they are afraid 
to undertake anything. They have twinges of conscience, 
indeed, but they stifle them, till they sink down into a stu- 
pid state of inactivity. It is no less true, on the other 
hand, that if any man rely on his own strength, and thus go 
forth to fight the battles of the Lord, he will be put to shame. 

But the right way is to follow the indications of Provi 
dence, and the suggestions of the Holy Spirit; always 



292 THE CEETArSTT OF SALTATION. 

taking care to tiy our feelings by the word of God, or we 
may easily be led to mistake the voice of the tempter for 
that of the Spirit of God. Till, by experience and close at- 
tention to what passes within us and bringing every thing 
to the test of Scrii^ture, we have learned to distinguish truth 
from error, — we are always in danger of considering any 
sudden and strong impulse as coming from God, when per- 
haps it is nothing but the instigation of Satan, who can as- 
sume the disguise of an angel of light on occasion, working 
upon the pride, or vanity, or other sinful emotion of our 
natural inclination. 

Humility, meekness, gentleness, kind feelings toward 
others, even such as injure us, and a conduct flowing from 
such feehngs are the surest evidences of our being led by 
the Spirit of God. If we yield ourselv^ imto God by a 
total surrender and entire consecration to His service and 
honor, He will enter in and take possession of His temple, 
by His Holy Spirit, and will manifest His presence in a way 
that can not be mistaken. He will work in us, and through 
us. He will be glorified, whether it be in our life or in our 
death, whether by our active services of love, or by meek 
submission to His chastening rod. 

Thus shall we be enabled to '' work out our own sal- 
vation with fear and trembling," with care, and diligence, 
and watchfulness, like to one that had a precious treasure to 
guard, or a frail but valuable vessel to carry, who would 
anxiously avoid jostling against any thing, for fear of dro|> 
ping and breaking the vessel. Then shall we enjoy a jDcace 
which the world can neither give nor take away ; but which 
on any other terms we shall in vain hope to taste. Then, 
too, shall we become daily more humble, more spiritual, 
more heavenly-minded, more Christ-hke, while the tempta- 
tions of this world will lose their power over us in the same 



THE CERTAINTY OF SALVATION. 293 

proportion, and we shall find the road of holiness, of self- 
denial, and active piety, to become daily more smooth and 
pleasant, and our course will be like that of the light, 
shining brighter and brighter unto the perfect day, while 
our example and influence will tell upon our neighbors and 
society at large. 

We shall not live in vain, but we shall be serving God in 
our day and generation, and when called to enter into the 
dark valley, and to cross the cold stream of death, we shall 
be ready. 

If not filled with ecstatic joy, we shall yet have a calm 
and peaceful frame, and so " an abundant entrance minis- 
tered unto us into the everlasting kingdom of our Lord and 
Saviour Jesus Christ." And then in the kingdom of our 
Father " we shall shine as the stars and as the brightness of 
the firmament, for ever and ever." 

And is not this a prize Avorth running for ? But remem- 
ber that you must conform to the laws of the race or you 
will not be crowned. " So run," therefore, after the apos- 
tle's example, "that you may obtain. So fight not as un- 
certainly, not as beating the air, but as those that are in 
earnest, keeping under the body," and practicing all need- 
ful severity — that you may be able to stand against the en- 
emy, and bear up under the blows of temptation and trial. 

Now the Lord give us all wisdom and grace to realize 
that it is God that must work in us, both to will and to do 
of His good pleasure. 



S E R ^I X XVII. 

TEAIPTATIOXS . 

''And lead us not into temptation,"" — }JLittbxw. vi 13 

That we are weak in resisting temptation, and incapable 
of oui'selves to overcome sin effectnally, is what every one's 
own experience will teach him, at whatever time he will 
seriously set himself about making the attempt. 

Men are apt, after a few unsuccessful efforts, to sit down 
contentedly, submitting to it as an unavoidable necessity of 
om' nature. It is well if they do not throw the blame of 
their ^uces and follies upon their Maker, for having formed 
them with such dispositions, and placed them in such situa- 
tions as render it inevitable that they should sin. This is 
not the teaching of the word of God. That neither palli- 
ates the sin, nor does it extol man's natural ability to do 
right. It declares that the imagination of man's heart is 
evil from his youth, that he has a sinful nature from his 
very birth and conception. At the same time it teaches 
that " the soul that sinneth shall die." 

But while it thus shuts us up to absolute despair of ever 
helping ourselves, the Bible does not leave us in this help- 
less state. It assures us that aid is come from without. 
That Christ, the great Champion of our race, has burst open 
the prison doors, and calls us to come forth to the light and 
liberty of God's children. But it not only removes the ob- 
structions that prevented us from enjoying the favor of God 



TEMPTATIONS. 295 

by the atonement which it holds forth, the gospel further 
assures us that in Christ Jesus is provided every needful 
aid and grace to enable us to serve God in newness of life. 
Indeed, the very means by which salvation is rendered at- 
tainable, is at the same time the proper medicine for our 
sin-sick souls. 

The great obstacle in the way of our restoration, on the 
part of man, is the natural enmity and opposition of the 
human heart to the character of God as a holy God, and the 
demands of His law which is holy as His nature. IsTow, this 
enmity is slain, the moment that the love of God, displayed 
in the mission of His Son, finds entrance into the heart. 
*' We love Him," says one, " because He first loved us. The 
love of Christ constraineth us," says another, who had drunk 
largely of the waters of life. 

So soon as the heart of the sinner is made truly sensible 
of his ill desert, and of the infinite love of Jehovah which 
moved Him to provide salvation at so great a cost- — his en- 
mity is gone, and love, gratitude, and devoted attachment 
to his kind Deliverer take its place. 

Sin no longer has dominion over him, for he is now not 
under the lash of the law, but feels the attractions of grace; 
notwithstanding he is still liable to sin, and, therefore, 
stands in need to be always on his guard against it. It was 
not to be the minister of sin that Christ came and suffered 
and died. " It was to destroy the works of the devil ;" to 
deliver us not only from the guilt and punishment, but from 
the power and indwelling of sin and corruption. His name 
was called Jesus, because He '' should deliver His people 
from their sins," If sin, under the law, was visited with 
condign punishment, mider the gospel it will receive tenfold 
severer retribution ; that is to say, in all such as die with 
their sins unforgiven. 



296 TEMPTATIOXS. 

But, on the other hand, if the law could not by its sacri- 
fices make the conscience of the offerer perfect, the gospel 
presents a full and free discharge of all past offenses to 
every one that believes. And it offers all needed aid from 
above. " Ask," says He that is the truth, the way, and the 
life, " and ye shall receive ; seek and ye shall find ; knock 
and it shall be opened unto you." And so in that admir- 
able form of prayer which He taught His disciples, He in- 
troduces the petition which we intend to lay at the founda- 
tion of our present address. 

Lead us :sroT into '' Temptation." 

May the Lord prepare us all for a profitable meditation 
upon these words. 

It might seem needless to put a Christian audience on its 
guard against understanding the Saviour to intimate that 
God leads men into temptation by a direct act. Yet as this 
very thought may come across the mind in the hour of 
trial and give to it its deadliest sting, it may be well to 
notice it. The apostle James had, perhaps, an eye to these 
very words of the Lord's prayer when he writes : "Let no 
man say when he is tempted, I am tempted of God ; for 
God can not be tempted of evil, neither tempteth He any 
man : but every man is tempted when be is drawn away of 
his own lust and enticed." 

In whatever situation a man may be placed in the Provi- 
dence of God — we say nothing just now of the danger into 
which a man may rush presumptuously, of his own accord — 
but in any situation into which duty and unavoidable circum- 
stances may bring hira, there will always be a way of escape 
provided, so that he may be able to bear it. God is a faith- 
ful Creator who has never yet deserted those that trust in 
Him, and commit to Him the keeping of their souls in well- 
doing, that is, while engaged in doing their duty. And 



TEMPTATIOlSrS. 297 

should they be called to lose their lives in His cause, He 
can fill them with joy unspeakable, in prison or at the stake, 
and for the short sufferings of this life, will make them am- 
ple amends in the world of glory. 

But while w^e may be sure that the Lord will never for- 
sake His people, even in their darkest hour, they are per- 
mitted to pour their sorrows into His gracious ear, and to 
pray, *' Lead us not into temptation." In further speaking 
from these words, we shall consider, 
First, The universality of temptation. 
Seco7id, The sources of it. 

Third, The effort required in order to overcome it, with 
such an application as the subject may present and the Lord 
enable. 

Temptation is universal. Every child of Adam arrived 
at years of rational action is liable to it. Even the Saviour 
•Himself was tempted by the enemy in person. 

Taken in a large sense, temptation means trial ; and then 
it is the same as probation. But it usually signifies only 
those trials in which our virtue is endangered ; where either 
a specious good, some seemingly great advantage may be 
secured by what appears a slight sacrifice of morality, or a 
tremendous evil obviated at the same cost. The greater 
the seeming good to be attained, or the danger to be es- 
caped, and the less the seeming cost to our virtue, the 
greater it will be seen is the temptation. 

Persons who have no virtue to lose can not be said to be 
tempted ; while to such as are of ripe virtue, offers that 
would be very tempting to a novice, may hardly make any 
impression on their minds. But in one vray or other all 
are tempted that have any virtue to lose. 

In short, where there is virtue in this world, there are 
temptations to be encountered, and the more severe in pro- 

13* 



298 TEMPTATIONS. 

portion to the excellence of the virtue. It is only when we 
shall have reached the upper sanctuary that we shall be no 
longer exposed to the fiery darts of the adversary, the 
tempter as well as the accuser of mankind. Meanwhile we 
must prepare ourselves for a violent struggle, if we hope to 
come off victorious from the contest. 

This has been the condition of victory from the beginning 
of time. In the days of ISToah, when he was commanded to 
build an ark, no doubt he was the butt of ridicule for his con- 
temporaries, who, not believing the word of the Lord, that 
after a respite of one hundred and twenty years the earth 
and its inhabitants should be destroyed by the waters of a 
general deluge, must have thought that Noah had lost his 
senses, and either have pitied or laughed at him for his 
pains. But which of us could have withstood such a tor- 
rent of mockery and insult, as Noah doubtless had to suffer 
from his vicious and atheistical neighbors for so long a 
space, even all the time that the ark was in building? 
What are the few hours or minutes of suffering at the stake, 
compared with his patient endurance and persevering obe- 
dience ? 

But let us come down to the times of Abraham, the fa- 
ther of the faithful. Not only was he commanded to leave 
his native country, not knowing yet where he was going, 
but dwelling, as he did, among the idolatrous Canaanites, 
without mingling with them, he must have been exposed to 
various trials from this source, besides those originating 
from his own people and family. The conduct of Hagar, 
and Sarah, and Ishmael, and, previous to that, of his nephew 
Lot, must have been a source of much grief to his pious and 
affectionate soul ; to say nothing of his having no perma- 
nent possession, nor fixed abode on earth, except only the 
possession of a burial place and the rest of the grave. Now, 



TEMPTATIONS. 299 

if we would be Abraham's children, we must manifest some- 
thing like Abraham's trust in God and submission to His 
will. Yet how weak is our faith, and how^ soon do we 
grow impatient under trials, if we do not altogether yield 
to the liglit temptations by which we are assailed ! 

If we look next at Joseph, one of the most perfect char- 
acters presented by sacred history, we shall still find that in 
his day and degree, he, like the great Captain of salvation 
Himself, was made perfect through sufferings. He was ex- 
posed to severe temptations, but, aided by divine grace, he 
came off conqueror, and was at length placed in a station of 
high trust, where he became the means of saving the peo- 
ple of Egypt, as well as his own kindred, from perishing by 
famine. 

Take Moses, or David, or the prophets, and which of 
them was not severely tested and exposed to a long course 
of hardships ? Moses, though the meekest of men, was con- 
tinually provoked by the perverseness of the people whom 
he had led out of Egypt. We may learn the state of his 
feehngs from the solemn tenor of the ninetieth Psalm which 
he composed ; even as from many of the Psalms of David, 
the sweet singer in Israel, we may learn how many trials and 
temptations he had to pass through ; so that in this respect, 
too, he served as a type to foreshadow the earthly life of his 
great Son, according to the flesh. 

All this was intended to teach the pious who lived before 
the advent of Christ, that in this life was not their rest ; 
that here we are all, if we would live godly lives, liable to 
temptations and sore distress ; " that," as the apostle speaks, 
" through much tribulation we must enter into the kingdom 
of God." 

How it was at the time of Christ's coming and the first 
planting of the Church you need not to be informed. It 



300 TEMPTATIOXS. 

will be sufficient to remind you of the Sav:::::*^ words, 
when He tells EQs disciple? w'-* ''v^^ -^ : "^ t :: :^ : ■: =- 

coming His followers; "Ye -h: - . - r , ;- 

name's sake : but he that endureth to the end shall be saved. 
A man's foes shall be they of his OTrn I. : ; - "^^ -' : 

loveth father or mother more than me is i: : ^ r. 

and he that loveth son or daughter more _ t : l:: 

worthy of me. And he that taketi: not his orc^ss and fol- 
loweth me is ::■:: ^vorthy of me.** " Bri:^'ed." says the 
apostle Peter, " think it not strange CMioerniag the ner}- 
trial which is to try you, as thon_n s:nte strange tnn._ n i 
happened to you ;'- soon after adding •• that the same aliiio- 
tions are accomplished in their brethr^ ' ^^ ' ' e 

world, giving them to understand that :,.. :^:.. .,,_;.,.; ,,,e 
godly must expect persecutions. 

And. down to the rar-Tnt day. there has never been a 
period when a faithfal adherence t^: the gt'-p-^' ^^""^ ' ~ at- 
tended with many temptations ; net ainty^ ' . a .n. :f 
persecution, but often, what is far mo:v .-. m the 
enticing form of earthly pleasure, "^"ranh. ca n:n:r. 

And every state of society nresrnt- tat :-: some 

conditions of hfe less, perhaps, than othtrr-. ,. ,. in ?t:ne 
way or other. The rich have herein no pierc.at:' a o^-er 
the poor; if anything, the poor have fewer and easier trials 
than the rich, in which we - - • ^ y '-'f 

God in the distribution of t _^ . :.:.. ..ct:..^: , . tn.^v disad- 
vantage of one sort, is apt to be counterbalanced by some 
corresponding benefit ; so that do one has any reason to envy 
his neighbor. If the master of the slave has some '■ 
tives, the latter has his peculiar advantages, if n^ ...t 
knows it and will improve them. 

The different classes of society, according to their occu- 
pations, have each its peon'iar temptations. Each age and 



TEMPTATIONS. 301 

sex has its particular difficulties to encounter. In one form 
or the other, every individual who means to lead a godly 
life, and to secure his final salvation, will meet with trials ot 
his virtue demanding a severe struggle to pass through un- 
scathed. 

But it will be profitable to consider the subject from a 
general point of view, and to inquire into the sources of 
temptation, as we shall now do. These may be divided 
into External and Internal, 

Among the former, we begin with considering the temp- 
tations incident to a state of want. When deprived of 
some thing that we esteem necessary for our happiness or 
comfort in this world, how easily are we led to employ im- 
proper and unlawful means to supply the want. Not to in- 
sist that many are led to infringe the command in its letter 
which says, " Thou shalt not steal ;" — for this it is hoped is 
a sin that few would be guilty of, that make any pretensions 
to religion — yet how many little indirections are there in 
trade, in the intercourse of society, in private or in public 
life, which violate the spirit of the command ; and which, 
though they may not incur any blame from the world, are 
offensive in the sight of God, and must bring a cloud over 
our spiritual prospects. 

And here I can not avoid dwelling upon a peculiar form 
of theft, of which it is to be feared some are guilty without 
any serious compunctions of conscience, because they do 
not view the subject in the true light. It is that sin which 
prevailed to an alarming extent in the time of Malachi, as 
it does in all periods of religious declension — covetousness. 
This leads men to withhold the means and money necessary 
for the support and spread of religion. " Will a man rob 
God? " says the Lord by the mouth of His servant, "yet 
ye have robbed me. But ye say wherein have we robbed 



302 TE:yiPTATioxs. 

Thee ? In tithes and offerings. Ye are cursed with a 
curse : for ye have robbed me, even this whole nation." 
There is not, probably, a greater temptation in our day 

to such as wish to lead a pious life than this same of covet- 
ousness. True, something is done from year to year for the 
building of churches, the support of the ministry, and the 
spread of the gospel by the various benevolent operations 
of the Church. But what is all this compared with the 
wealth possessed by professing Christians, and the magni- 
tude of the work ? It is a general complaint in all denom- 
inations, that the number of ministers is not only altogether 
inadequate, but that there is a constantly increasing defi- 
ciency — as compared with the increase of population — of 
such as seek to be prepared for the ministry. And the 
plain reason is that men are unwilling to furnish the neces- 
sary means ; or to afford a competent support to such as 
are already engaged in the work. It needs but little obser- 
vation to convince us that in the general rush after wealth, 
professing Christians, as a body, have not escaped the infec- 
tion. How to better their condition in outward things 
seems to be the great consideration in all classes of society. 
And amidst the constantly increasing extravagance of living, 
there is little left to be devoted to pious or benevolent ob- 
jects. 

But may we not trace to this cause the blight upon our 
crops — the fires, and the losses by land and water, of which 
every week furnishes new instances?^' Is not the Lord 
teaching us that all our temporal possessions — no less than 
our spiritual privileges — are from Him, and that He can with- 
draw them at any time ? Does it need a prophet to assure 
us that we are cursed with a curse, even this whole nation, 
and that worse awaits us if we do not repent ? 
* Written in Xovember. 1854. 



TEMPTATIONS. 303 

Covetoiisness is idolatry in the eyes of God ; and if we 
are guilty of it, shall He not visit us for it ? Shall not His 
soul be avenged on such a nation as this ? When we con- 
sider our privileges, and how little we have improved them, 
have we not reason to tremble ? 

But we proceed. If want, or the sense of want, which is 
practically the same thing, is the source of many tempta- 
tions, so, on the other hand, is abundance. It was the feel- 
ing of having a full supply for a long time to come that led 
the rich fool to say to himself, " Soul, thou hast much goods 
laid up for many years, take thine ease, eat, drink, and 
be merry," when God said to him, " Thou fool, this night 
shall thy soul be required of thee, then whose shall those 
things be which thou hast provided. So is he," adds the 
Saviour, " that layeth up treasure for himself and is not 
rich toward God." 

The fatal effects of wealth and abundance upon the char- 
acter of men are but too manifest. Unless manfully coun- 
teracted by a life of devotion and faith, by large benevo- 
lence, prayer, and watchfulness, the possession of riches will 
surely keep a man out of the kingdom of God ; and if he 
have entered and have begun to show signs of fruit, he will 
bring none to perfection. But alas ! this is a subject that 
we present in vain to the consideration of men. They have 
made up their minds to be rich, let the consequences be 
what they may. It is a matter on which they will take no 
advice, and listen to no warnings. They must have money 
to live like their neighbors. They must provide for old 
age. They must secure the main chance. You can not 
convince them that the solemn denunciations of God regard 
them. 

To proceed : — ^Labor and ease have their several tempta- 
tions. We were placed here to work. Even in Eden, in 



304 TEMPTATIOXS. 

the state of innocence, man had his work assigned him. 
And since the sad depravation of his nature, consequent 
upon the fall, it is doubly necessary that his time should be 
fully occupied with some useful employment. It was as 
much in mercy as in anger that God said to him : ''lu the 
sweat of thy face thou shalt eat bread." 

Tet even industry and labor have their dangers, for what 
condition in life is there that is free from these ? One of 
these dangers is that we exhaust ourselves by mental or 
bodily exertion in our honest calling, to such a degree as 
not to leave sufficient vigor and spring for the daily exer- 
cises of devotion, or for the duties of the Lord-s day. 

In cases where an unavoidable necessity exists for such 
unnatural exertion, it will no doubt be pardoned by Him 
that knows all our circumstances. But these cases we think 
are rare in our favored land ; and it is to be ascribed, at 
least in a great measure, to that covetousness, that eager- 
ness to amass wealth, which characterizes our countrymen 
above all other nations of the earth. Xay, it is to be feared 
that some making a profession of piety do not even rescue 
all the hours of the Lord's day from labors that are not 
suitable for sacred time, and that without any real necessity. 

But even labors in the service of religion ought not to be 
suffered to encroach upon the time due to private devotion 
and self-examination, to the study of the Bible and rehgious 
meditation. For without due amount of time so employed, 
the soul, deprived of its proper nourishment, will grow 
feeble; and it will be found, on inquiry, that men who have 
daily spent hours in prayer and retirement have accom- 
plished more than such as could not find time for these du- 
ties, through the multiphcity or inordinate extension of their 
active labors. 

Another temptation connected with labor is, when either 



temptatio:n^s. 305 

mental or bodily exertion is so violent and protracted as to 
prostrate the strength of the system. It is a solemn truth, 
couched in homely language, that it is better to wear out 
than to rust out, yet there is an extreme in both directions. 
And in our time there is great danger from this source. 
How many promising ministers have been laid up in the 
middle of their days, who might have continued active and 
useful for many years, had they not overtaxed themselves 
in the beginning of their services; while there are examples 
not a few of such as have ruined their constitutions for life, 
even before they had entered upon the actual duties of the 
ministry. In part, the blame must rest upon congregations 
who require more of a clergyman than human nature can 
bear, and perhaps starve him besides. But, partly, the 
blame rests with the individual who ought to have indepen- 
dence enough to refuse to labor harder than is right and 
reasonable, and if his people are not satisfied, seek another 
situation. 

But how many murdered ministers will there not be laid 
to the charge of professing Christians, who, out of covetous- 
ness would not furnish them a sufficient support, unless they 
were willing to labor harder than any slave on a sugar plan- 
tation. 

In regard to students of divinity the case is of com^se 
somewhat different. But, after all, I believe a great part 
of the evil may be traced to the same hateful covetousness 
on the part of the Churches — that is to say, of professors of 
religion — for I have never met with such a nondescript as 
a Church without professors, or that was not made up of 
individual Christians, who will not contribute enough to 
support and educate suitable persons that have no means of 
their own. 

But I have wandered from my subject to which I now 



306 te:mptations. 

return. Having, though very cursorily, pointed out some 
of the temptations attendant upon different circumstances, 
I shall next dwell briefly upon some other sources of exter- 
nal temptation. 

These may be ranged under three heads, as proceeding 
from the icorld^ from relatives^ and from brethren of the 
faith. 

That the Christian is exposed to danger from men of the 
world is not to be wondered at. This danger is of a three- 
fold kind, as flowing fi'om the froiciis^ the sneers^ and the 
smiles of the world. 

"When a man sets out in earnest to follow Christ, he must 
prepare himself to meet with opposition from his uncon- 
verted neighbors. After having tried various methods to 
keep him in their ranks, finding him determined to go his 
own way and to flee fi'om the coming wrath, they will be apt 
to treat him with coldness, if they do not try to do him any 
greater injury in his property, character, or person. They 
will watch for an opportunity to lay something against 
him ; to injure him in his business ; or if they do not pro- 
ceed to such lengths, their sneers and innuendoes will often 
hurt his tenderest feelings. But all this renders it for per- 
sons of a gentle temper, a severe cross to make an open 
profession of religion, and to take a part in the meetings of 
Christians for edification. While to such as have by a con- 
sistent course commanded the respect of their acquaintance, 
the smiles of the world are even more dangerous. They 
will be given to understand that they could exercise more 
influence and do more good if they would not be quite so 
precise; that by assimilating themselves a little more to the 
usages of good society, and taking a part in its innocent 
amusements, they would gain the good-will of others and 
win them over to the cause of Christ. Such reasonins^ has 



TEMPTATIONS. 307 

but too often, we fear, exercised an unhappy influence. 
Sincere Christians who have sought, by going over to the 
ground of the worldling in matters not absolutely forbid- 
den, to be able to draw their neighbors over to the side of 
religion, while the actual result has been that they have 
themselves lost much of their spirituality, if they have not 
been altogether drawn back into the vortex of worldliness 
and sin. 

We do not advocate a stern and austere asceticism and 
total separation from all intercourse with society, which 
would be contrary to the design of the Saviour in establish- 
ing His Church as a light in the midst of surrounding dark- 
ness. We remember that He was slandered as being " a 
man gluttonous, and a wine-bibber, a friend of publicans 
and sinners," delighting in the society of the profligate. 

But while Christians should cultivate every friendly and 
winning way, they must take especial care that they are not 
entangled in any thing that leads to evil. Christ went 
among sinners as a physician goes among the sick, and so 
may and ought we, according to the measure of grace af- 
forded, even not forgetting that we have in our own moral 
and spiritual frame those germs of evil, which will expose us 
to the contagion of evil example, unless powerfully resisted 
by prayer and fasting. 

But a still greater danger, especially to the young Chris- 
tian, than that from the world at lai'ge, will proceed from 
his uuGonyertei frie7ids smd relatives. These will often, with 
an unhappy diligence, strive to bring the young convert off 
from his novel whims, as they consider them. And especially 
will they exert their utmost skill to turn him back, while he 
is yet under conviction, and has not openly come out on the 
side of Christ. Here the words of our Lord ought to be 
well weighed, where He says : " He that loveth father or 



308 TEMPTATIONS. 

mother more than me is not worthy of me ; and he that 
loveth son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me." 
The utmost decision is necessary, if we would escape this 
dangerous snare. For here, natural affection, one of the 
strongest and purest of our feelings, is enlisted on the side 
of the enemy. Here, like Levi of old, we must take a pos- 
itive stand for the Lord, that it may be said of us as Moses 
said of that faithful tribe: " Who said unto his father and 
to his mother, I have not seen him, neither did he acknowl- 
edge his brethren, nor knew his own children ; for they 
have observed thy word, and kept thy covenant." Where- 
fore the Lord confirmed the priesthood to that tribe for 
ever. And they that take this decided stand will find that 
it is after all the easiest and safest. They will after a while 
be left to their own course in religion, and will command 
the respect of those who find that they can not be turned 
from their purpose either by promises or threats. 

But another danger awaits the young Christian, and from 
a side where it conld hardly be suspected. We mean from 
professing Christians, In the first place, it is to be re- 
gretted, but is nevertheless true, that there is a great deal 
of chicanery, and party politics, as well as of jealousy and 
evil speaking, occasioned by the divisions in the Christian 
Church, each party seeking to draw converts over to its own 
side, by representing others as affording inferior privileges, 
if not involved in serious error. 

Now we do not say that there is no important difference 
among the several denominations, or that there are not su- 
perior advantages to be enjoyed in one than another. But 
when one Christian hints to the young convert desirous of 
being rightly directed, that unless he is confirmed by the 
bishop he is no true member of Christ's body ; and another 
that he must be immersed in order to enter at the right 



TE^IPTATIONS. 309 

door into the kingdom ; or that thero is no Church like ours 
for earnest religion, and mutual love of the members, that 
the others are half dead and do not know what true religion 
is ; under such teaching what is he to do ? He wishes to 
obey every divine precept, to be in the true Church, and to 
enjoy the greatest privilege. Thus he is kept in suspense ; 
he grows indifferent to religion, because he sees its 2:)rofess- 
ors so much at variance among themselves. For how can 
he know that these are all comparatively unimportant mat- 
ters, when they are held up to him as of the utmost impor- 
tance ? How many souls have not been lost through this 
perverse conduct of men, pious in the main, but influenced 
by a sectarian spirit ! 

We are glad to see that this spirit is partially dying out, 
but whether it is owing to an increase of spiritual religion 
and Christian charity, or ]3artly, at least, to a general indif- 
ference and coldness that has kept pace with the increasing 
worldliness of professing Christians, I do not pretend to de- 
cide. 

And, after having overcome this difficulty, and having 
joined some Christian society, and made a public profession 
of his faith, the young convert is still exposed to danger 
from his fellow-professors. He will naturally look up to 
older and more experienced believers for guidance. He 
will make them his patterns, after whose example to regu- 
late his own walk. It is rare, indeed, that any one aims at 
a higher standard than the Christian community of which 
he is a member. The majority are satisfied with coming 
up to a tolerable average of Christian profession and prac- 
tice, in the place of their residence ; and rarely can a high- 
er standard be introduced than custom or accident has es- 
tablished. Even if favored with revivals, it is most likely 
that these will, after a short space, settle down to the old 



310 TEMPTATIONS. 

mark. Hence, the danger is great, that young Christians 
will be led by the example of their elder brethren, to take 
up with a comparatively low standard, to the great injury, 
if not the utter ruin of their souls. 

But we must hasten on and mention next the Internal 
temptations to which Christians are liable. These may be 
treated of as negative and ^^osiiive. 

Among the former we reckon want of faith and reliance 
on the Power, Wisdom, Goodness, and Faithfulness of 
God. This principle of reliance on the promises of God, is 
every where in Scripture held up as the main thing on the 
part of man, to secure the favor and aid of his Maker, and 
insure his own salvation. And justly ; for without confi- 
dence in God, and reliance on His word and promise, how 
could we even begin to love and serve Him. " Without 
faith," we are told, " it is impossible to please Him." With- 
out a measure of faith we can not be Christ's disciples. 

But this principle admits of increase, and is liable to in- 
terruption or diminution by the neglect of the proper means 
of keeping it in exercise. And with the decay of faith 
every other Christian grace and virtue will suffer a propor- 
tionate decline. Thus temptation will gain strength, and 
without resolute efforts, we shall speedily fall into sin, more 
or less palpable. To a weak faith a mole-hill grows into a 
mountain, while a strong faith will say to the mountain in 
its way, " be thou removed hence, and be thou cast into the 
sea, and it shall be done." If we inquire how ancient and 
modern worthies achieved such exploits, beside which all 
the heroism of the great ones of the world dwindles into 
insignificance, it was by faith, as the apostle shows through 
a long list which he draws up in the eleventh of Hebrews. 

Let us, therefore, see to it that our faith be always in 
lively exercise, and for this end let us improve every op- 



TEMPTATIONS. 311 

portunity and use every means that lies within our reach, 
and especially by constant and diligent exercise in every 
good word and work, let us strive for a constant increase 
of our foith. Thus shall we be able to resist all the attacks 
of temptation, and to stand fast in the struggle. 

Another negative internal temptation is the vxint of res- 
olution and energy^ or, in other words, yielding to indolence 
and the love of ease. This is a snare into which many have 
fallen through inattention and self-indulgence. But it is a 
temptation of a most dangerous nature. By yielding to it 
the life and power of religion in the heart will soon be ob- 
scured, if not entirely extinguished. Active exertion is the 
condition of healthy existence and vigor in spiritual, no less 
than in temporal things. To hope to enjoy a vigorous spir- 
itual condition, while we are not diligent to labor in the 
vineyard of the Lord, according to the means and ability 
granted us, is as absurd as to hope to reap a harvest where 
we have not soAvn any thing. 

Yet multitudes seem to harbor no fear as to their spirit- 
ual state and final salvation, who are absolutely idle in the 
cause of Christ ; who could not tell of one effort they have 
made to turn a sinner from the error of his ways, or any 
thing else they have done to promote the cause of religion, 
unless it be the pittance they have reluctantly doled out 
when urged to contribute to some benevolent object, look- 
ing upon Christ pretty much in the light of a common beg- 
gar, whom it is cheapest to dismiss with a shilling or two to 
get rid of His importunity. But one day they will find 
that though for a time He appeared in humble guise, He 
will by and by put on the robes of judgment, and array 
Himself with terrors that ^pll strike all His enemies to the 
ground, and will shake the hypocrite's garb from off him. 
And then the indolent, also, will begin to tremble, and wish 



312 TEMPT ATIOXS. 

they had improved the day of their visitation, now gone 
forever. 

There are also positive temptations, which may - , :ed 
to three sources mainly, viz., eml desires and indirmt i : s : 
bad habits a7id violent passw?is ; and, finally, th^ r s- 
tio7is of Satan. 

We all bring with us into the world the germ of eveiy 
sinful inclination and passion ; though, in some cases, uncler 
favorable circumstances, they may scarce^' bierV "to 

open act, or even fail to be felt struggling in :..^ ^.ait. 
But more or less they are warmed into activity, and often 
into an activity fearful to witness. And even under the re- 
pressing influence of religion they are not at once eradica- 
ted. " The old man,-' as the apostle terms the depraved 
nature that we bring with us into the world, as inherited 
from Adam, has to be crucified, which intimates, that he 
dies a slow and lingering death, and does not finally expire 
but with the last breath that the believer draws on earth. 

Hence, there is continual danger of evil desires springing 
up and polluting the soul, and bringing condemnation upon 
the conscience, unless we are diligently on the watch 
against them, and in serious earnest in repressing them. 
" Keep thy heart with all diligence," is the advice of Solo- 
man, "for out of it are the issues of life.'* '' Let him that 
thinketh he standeth take heed lest he fall," says the ar istle. 
"What I say unto you," are the words of C ri-t. "I ^ay 
unto all, watch ; " and again, *• Watch and pray, lest ye 
enter into temptation." 

But what increases the danger, even to the advanced 
Christian, is the injurious efiect of bad habits^ the result ot 
long continuance in sin. How difficult it is for the reformed 
inebriate to abstain, when the bottle is presented to him. 
though he may for a long period have tasted not a drop ! 



TEMPTATIONS. 313 

Oh! if the young could he persuaded to guard themsoh'es 
against every injurious iudulgence, while yet comparatively 
free from the slavery of evil habits, how much sorrow and 
remorse might they spare themselves! How much good 
might they accomplish in the world, for which they incapa- 
citate themselves by the indulgence of some useless habit, 
like that of smoking or chewing tobacco. 

But where is the use of warning those that will not be 
warned ? The young are every year more and more slip- 
ping out of the leading strings of experience and wisdom, 
fancying that they know best what is good for them. Still 
there are some who will listen to well-meant counsels, and 
for them chiefly we speak. 

Time admonishes us to pass on to another point, and we 
mention briefly yet the suggestions of Sat an ^ as another of 
the internal temptations to which the Christian is subject. 
By these, we mean irreverent and blasphemous thoughts 
and impulses at which the soul* revolts, but which will 
be sometimes presented to the mind, even of an advanced 
believer. These have always, and we think justly, been 
ascribed to a direct agency of the enemy of souls. How it 
is. exactly, that he has access to our minds, may be inexpli- 
cable to us in our present state. But the experience of 
Christians confirms the view that he has such access, and 
the Scripture holds out the same idea where it speaks of 
his fiery darts which are to be quenched by the shield of 
fiiith. 

The Saviour tells Peter that Satan had desired to sift the 
disciples as wheat, but that He had prayed for them that 
their faith might not fail. And Peter assures us that the 
devil " as a roaring lion, goeth about seeking whom he may 
devour." Indeed, in all our temptations, he seems to be 
always at hand to fan the flame of evil desire, or of distrust 

14 



314 TEMPTATIONS. 

of God ; but in some cases his po\yer seems to be exercised 
more directly upon the soul thau in others-. However, in 
no case is he suffered to have such power over God^s people 
as to do away with their moral liberty ; nor in the case of 
unbelievers, is he permitted to interfere with their free 
agency. So that they are still accountable for all they do, 
while the powers of reason remain, however much they 
may be under the influence of Satan. 

From what we have said, it must be apparent to every 
mind, that to escape from so many dangers and come to 
heaven, is no slight matter. "The kingdom of heaven," 
says the Saviour, " suffereth violence, and the violent take 
it by force." It is like a castle that is stormed. And 
though the words, no doubt, have immediate reference to 
the circumstances then existing, still we may be sure that 
at all times the difiiculty of entering in is very great. Of 
all that make a profession of religion, or at least that pay 
some respect to it and attend upon its ordinances, only, 
perhaps, the fourth part will ever get to heaven, as we 
may infer from the parable of the sower and the seed. 

Again, our Saviour describes the eflort necessary to se- 
cure success, in language like this: "If thine eye offend 
thee, pluck it out and cast it from thee ; it is better for 
thee to enter into life with one eye, than having two eyes 
to be cast into hell fire." And to draw particular attention 
to this point. He goes on to make the same remark of the 
right hand and right foot, implying that it is better to do 
without the most necessary means of life, than by yielding 
to the temptations connected with their use to endanger 
our eternal salvation. In short, that nothing must be es- 
teemed of greater value than the soul, and every thing must 
be sacrificed that stands in the way of our eternal interests: 
" for what is a man profited though he should gain the 



TEMPTATIONS. 315 

whole world and lose his own soul ; or what shall a man 
give in exchange for his soul." 

Till a man has come to the conviction that every other 
interest and possession must give way to this primary con- 
cern, there is no likelihood that he will ever in earnest apply 
to the Saviour for help. " What must I do to be saved ?" 
must not only be the language of his lips, but of his inmost 
soul. 

But many, after having run well for a season, are dis- 
couraged b}^ the length of the way, and the difficulties and 
dangers to be overcome. They turn back to their former 
ways, or sink into indolent security and antinomian pre- 
sumption. 

In order to obtain a correct impression of the absolute 
need of energetic exertion and persevering effort, if we 
would come off conquerors in the struggle, we must medi- 
tate much upon the danger of a failure and the sad conse- 
quences of the same. We must study the word of God 
with a view to this point, to know what are the terms of 
salvation. To this we must join fervent prayer for the en- 
lightening and quickening influences of the Holy Spirit, and 
great watchfulness over our hearts which we shall find to 
be as the word of God describes them, " deceitful above all 
things and desperately wicked." 

We shall thus learn not to depend upon ourselves, but to 
flee to the Lord Jesus for help in every emergency. And 
if we look to Him in earnest we shall not be disappointed. 
He is able to help us against our most powerful as well as 
our most wily foes. He can infuse new strength when we 
seem to be altogether exhausted. "He giveth power to 
the faint, and to them that have no might He increaseth 
strength. Even the youths shall faint and be weary ; and the 
young men shall utterly fail ;" that is, such as undertake the 



316 TEMPTATIONS. 

spiritual warfare in reliance on their own strength; "but 
they that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength ; 
they shall mount up with wings as eagles ; they shall run 
and not be weary ; and they shall walk and not faint." 
" Surely, shall one say, In the Lord have I righteousness 
and strength." 

As our only available righteousness is founded on faith in 
a crucified Redeemer who has borne our sins ; so the only 
strength of the Christian is derived from his union with his 
Saviour by the continued operation of faith. " According 
to thy faith, so be it unto thee," is the condition of our 
acceptance with God, and of our victory over sin and the 
world. And how great soever the danger, or difficult the 
task, and severe the labor, nothing can surpass the power 
and grace of oar Almighty Saviour. The weakest Chris- 
tian, if sensible of his weakness, and looking to Christ alone 
for aid, and then striving mightily against sin with the 
strength that will be afforded him, is more than a match for 
all his spiritual foes ; while the strongest, who does not de- 
pend simply upon Christ, will find himself foiled by the 
most insignificant temptation. 

When we look upon the power and cunning of our great 
adversary, upon the allurements and threats of the world, 
upon our own evil habits, and depraved inclinations, while, 
at the same time, we feel our spiritual weakness, we are apt 
to be discouraged and to fancy that it is all in vain that we 
should engage in the contest with the powers of darkness, 
under all these disadvantages. 

But we need not fear, if we make the Saviour our friend, 
by casting ourselves upon His gracious offers of aid, and 
enlisting under His banner. He is able to save to the ut- 
termost. His strength is made perfect — is most perfectly 
displayed, in our weakness. And His honor is pledged to 



TEMrTATIONS. 317 

bring all His folIot\^ers safe through all difficulties and dan- 
gers. Seek Him and He will be found of you. Cleave to 
Him and He will never forsake you, nor suffer you to be 
overpowered by your adversaries. " The name of the 
Lord is a strong tower ; the righteous runneth into it and is 
safe," 

Let us, then, take hold of the promise by faith. Let us 
enter upon the struggle with our corruptions, and with the 
temptations of the world, with the determination never to 
yield. And conscious that without help from above we 
can not succeed, let us be earnest in prayer for divine 
grace. We are commanded to pray, " Lead us not into 
temptation ;" and the command implies a promise of help. 

God is faithful ; He can not deny Himself, or refuse His 
aid to those that cry to Him day and night. And no one 
has ever yet been put to shame that has trusted in the Lord. 
"Trust ye in the Lord for ever; for in the Lord Jehovah 
is everlasting strength." 

It is His pleasure to raise the weak. It is His honor to 
give the victory to the feeble, while the rich and the pow- 
erful are sent away empty. " Thou wdlt save the afflicted 
people," says David — "but wilt bring down high looks." 
He had found the Lord on his side in many a severe battle, 
and could speak from experience. 

And to this every one can set his seal, that has made the 
trial. " The Lord is nigh unto all them that call upon Him, 
to all that call upon Him in truth." But if we give up the 
struggle before the final victory, we are lost, '' If any man 
draw back, my soul* shall have no pleasure in him. Hold 
fast, therefore, the beginning of your confidence steadfast 
unto the end, and you shall be saved." 



SERMON XVIII. 

THE BLESSED FRUITS OF FAITH. 

* Therefore, being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our 
Lord Jesus Christ." — Romans, v. 1. 

It is often objected to the doctrine of grace, that is, of 
"justification by faith without the works of the law," that 
it has a tendency to produce an indolent sort of religion, to 
the neglect of the duties of piety. But constant experi- 
ence testifies to the contrary. 

If we look to the private lives of various professors, we 
shall find the most exemplary Christians in the ranks of those 
who most strenuously maintain the doctrines of grace. Or 
if we inquire into the source of the most efiicient exertions 
for the spread of the gospel, we shall trace them to those 
denominations that hold these doctrines, and who are gen- 
erally known as evangelical Christians. 

In fact, so long as a man yet hopes to do some thing 
himself toward purchasing his salvation, such is human na- 
ture, that he will try to come ofi* as cheajDly as possible. 
While he that sees no merit in his own obedience, but per- 
forms his services from a principle of gratitude and devotion 
to the Saviour, will never feel as if hQ had done enough, 
and after his most zealous labors, will still consider himself 
infinitely indebted. At the same time the consciousness of 
his utter un worthiness in and of himself, and the realizing 
conviction that God bestows His blessings of His free, un- 



THE BLESSED FRUITS OF FAITH. 319 

merited grace, makes him feel easy under the conviction of 
his deficiencies and imperfections, so long as he has the tes- 
timony of his conscience that it is his sincere and earnest 
desire to serve God with all his might. 

And this feeUng that all is well, gives a steadiness to his 
conduct, and to his endeavors to do the will of God, which 
is not attainable on any other conditions. Indeed, it will be 
found to hold universally, that those Christians who have 
had the deepest convictions for sin, and who entertain the 
most humble views of their own unw^orthiness, are the most 
active and devoted. 

This state of humble yet firm reliance on the kindness of 
God, as flowing from the fact that we are justified by faith ; 
and the knowledge that such is the case ; and the assurance 
that it is the case with us, is vv^hat the apostle speaks of 
in our text, when he says that, " being justified by faith, we 
have peace with God, through our Lord Jesus Christ." 
This being so important a point in the Christian life, you 
will see the propriety of our calling your particular atten- 
tion to it. And may the Lord so direct my thoughts, and 
so enable me to present the subject that we may be mutu- 
ally edified ! 

We shall accordingly dwell to-day upon, 

The blessed feuits of faith, or peace with God the 

RESULT of BEIXG JUSTIFIED BY FAITH. 

The believer has peace with God. This includes, partic- 
ularly, five ideas^ which we sliall endeavor to develop in 
their order. 

ThQ first is that God is reconciled. Out of Christ " God 
is a consuming fire." Independently of the atonement 
made by the Lord Jesus, God can not treat a sinful crea- 
ture, such as man actually is, in any other way than as an 
avenging Judge. This is a truth so deeply rooted in hu- 



320 THE BLESSED FEUITS OF FAITH. 

man consciousness, that no man since the fall has ever ap- 
proached unto God with a truly filial, confiding, loving 
spirit, before he had learned to trust exclusively and implic- 
itly in the merits of a crucified Saviour. And it seems 
hardly necessary to enter into a formal jDroof of what we 
are taught by our inmost convictions. 

But it is not merely as a subjective truth impressed upon 
our hearts, but still more as an objective reality; an exter- 
nal fact, whether we know^ it or not, that the death of 
Christ was necessary to make God propitious. He can only 
be just in justifying the believer, because Christ has actu- 
ally atoned for the sins of the world. Tb.erefore the apostle 
assures us '^ that God was in Christ reconciling the world 
unto Himself, not imputmg their trespasses unto them.^' 
And in our chapter he thus expresses himself: " God com- 
mendeth His love towards us, in that while we were yet 
sinners Christ died for us." From this also we may learn 
the hollo wn ess of the objection sometimes raised against 
the doctrines of grace, and more especially against the 
atonement, as though it represented God as a cruel tyrant, 
whom nothing but blood could pacify ; while, in fact, though 
it teaches that without the shedding of blood there could 
be no remission, yet it puts it on the ground of high moral 
reasons and principles of the divine government, assuring 
us that the whole plan and method of salvation originated 
in the Father^s love and compassion towards a lost and ru- 
ined race. 

To return. Peace now is practicable without any infringe- 
ment of the divine honor, or any relaxing of the divine 
laws and government. And to believe this on the authority 
of God is the way to share in the benefit of this reconcilia- 
tion. And so soon and so sure, as we do believe, we are 
jp.stified; *' for He made Him to be sin for us, who knew 



THE BLESSED FRUITS OF FATTTT. 321 

no Sin, that we might be made the righteousness of God in 
Him." 

Hence, tlie angels iDroclairaed at the birth of the Saviour, 
" Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace ; good- 
will towards men." Peace in the name of God is to be 
published abroad. Men are to be admonished, entreated 
to be reconciled unto God. And when man assents to the 
treaty, when he accepts the offered peace, then is accom- 
plished the SECOXD idea involved in the apostle's words. 
We have peace because loe are now reconciled. To believe 
in the Lord Jesus Christ is to receive the offered peace on 
the terms prescribed by God, ^. ^., as a free, unmerited gift. 
To believe in the Lord Jesus is to feel and acknowledge 
that we are sinners, that we have been all along living in 
rebelHon against God and His righteous laws and govern- 
ment ; that we are deserving of death ; but that we grate- 
fully receive the glad tidings that the Saviour has endured 
in our stead the punishment due to sin. And this includes 
that we now^ hate sin, as the most vile and wicked thing in 
the world, that we are truly sorry that we have so long in- 
dulged in sin, and truly ashamed of our conduct, and 
ashamed of ourselves on account of it. The deeper and 
more pungent these convictions are, the more thorough and 
sincere, generally, is the reformation that results. 

The more fully we give ourselves up to the guidance and 
influence of the Holy Spirit, the more tender will be our 
conscience, the more effectual our conversion. And having 
tasted the bitterness of penitence, and experienced a true 
contrition of soul and brokenness of soirit, we shall not at 
once wish to return to our former courses. The sense of 
the favor we have received will make us abhor sin, as that 
which is offensive to our gracious Redeemer and reconciled 
God. 

14* 



322 THE BLESSED FRUITS OF FAITH. 

Yet, as in the nature of things these feelings will not 
always retain their original fervor and force, it is necessary 
that we should be on our guard lest at any time we should 
let those " things slip " out of our recollection, which we 
had heard and believed. For while w^e remain on earth we 
are still on jDrobation ; and though by faithfully adhering to 
Christ, and pursuing the path pointed out in His word, we 
shall become more and more confirmed in the faith, yet so 
long as we continue in the flesh, we are liable to temptation, 
and liable, therefore, to fall, and if we are not on our guard, 
to fall away and be lost after all. 

But nothing is so well calculated to keep us firm as the 
feeling of being reconciled to God, and being able to look 
up to Him with filial confidence as reconciled to us. When, 
in our former, unconverted state, we sometimes felt a de- 
sire to serve God, we could never satisfy ourselves whether 
our services would be accepted, and our endeavors prove 
of any avail. Now we are assured that our " labor shall 
not be in vain in the Lord ; " that having begun a good 
work in us. He will also carry it on unto perfection, pro- 
vided we lay no obstacles in the way. 

In short, the enmity that formerly existed in the heart of 
the sinner while he looked upon God as an enemy, has been 
at least measurably destroyed. Some roots of bitterness, 
however, still remain and require a watchful eye, lest they 
spring up again and break his peace and cause him to sin 
against God. He is reconciled. His soul is at peace with 
God, even though he should not yet, or at least not at all 
times, feel assured that God is reconciled to him. He can now 
say with the penitent David, " that Thou mightest be justi- 
fied when Thou speakest, and be clear when Thou judgest:" 
in other words, he acknowledges the perfect justice of 
God's sentence against sin, and that if he had to suffer this 



THE BLESSED FEUITS OF FAITH. 323 

sentence in his own person for ever, it would be perfectly 
right, a confession which no unconverted man ever yet sin- 
cerely made. 

Wlien the tlioaght arises in the mind of the unregener- 
ate, as it will sometimes, almost in spite of themselves, that 
they are exposed to eternal punishment, it calls up all the 
rebellion that had been sleeping in their bosom, and makes 
them feel that they are indeed as the Scripture assures 
them, "enemies" of God, "not subject to His law," and 
under a curse for this rebellion. But this enmity has been 
slain, this feehng has been subdued by the love of God shed 
abroad in the heart, by the sense of pardoned sin and of 
adoption into the family of God. And this produces peace 
in a third respect, viz., a joyful feeling of restored health, 
and of free access to the throne of grace, and of sweet in- 
tercourse with the Father of mercies. If there is not rap- 
ture, still there is peace. There is a calm sensation that all 
is well. The struggle by which the soul was brought 
through the pangs of the new birth, is now over. The 
fears, the doubts, the violent alternations of shame and 
pride, and anger, and remorse, which had torn the bosom, 
before the final surrender was made^ are now all lulled to 
rest. Peace reigns in the heart, and peace is inscribed on 
every lineament of the face. 

The gospel has shown itself to be indeed good news from 
a far country, a message of joy from the heavenly father- 
land, and from^ the great Father who reigns above. The 
converted soul enjoys a peace and a comfort, to which noth- 
ing can be compared that it had ever felt before ; a comfort 
such as no unregenerate soul has ever experienced. It is a 
mingled sensation produced by the removal of pain, the 
feeling of restored health, the assurance of the divine favor, 
the bright hope of future good, the sweet sense of loving 



324 THE BLESSED FEUITS OF FAITH. 

and being beloved by Him who is all truth, and excellence, 
and lovelines>5, and goodness. 

This peace, this joy, is the work of the Holy Spirit ; a 
spiritual joy, a pare and holy feeling, which can only dwell 
in a soul that has been renewed, cleansed, and purified in 
the blood of Christ, and by the power of the Spirit accom- 
panying the word. It is like a spring of ever fresh delight 
and joy in God. The contemplation of the divine nature, 
which formerly was irksome and painful, is now a source of 
unceasing comfort. All the holy attributes of God, once 
the source of terror to the unreconciled heart, as being all 
in direct opposition to its selfish desires and sinful passions, 
are now in Christ, felt to be on the side of the penitent and 
belie \ing soul. 

Even the threatenings against sin have lost their terrors, 
since Ms sins have been forgiven for Christ's sake. The law 
can no longer condemn him that believe th in Jesus ; for 
" what the law could not do in that it was weak through 
the flesh, God has accomplished by sending his own Son in 
the likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin," thus condemning 
sin in the flesh. What may not the believer expect and 
hope for at the hands of his heavenly Father, when He has 
shown the infinitude of His love by not sparing His only be- 
gotten Son, but giving Him up freely for ns all? "Who 
shall lay any thing to the charge of God's elect, when it is 
God that justifieth ? who shall condemn, when it is Christ 
that died to atone for sin ?" The enjoyment of this peace 
rests upon the certainty of our conviction that we are justi- 
fied, and, therefore, it depends upon the strength of our 
faith. And our faith rests upon the promise and oath of 
God. Therefore, to enjoy this peace we must daily exam- 
ine ourselves whether we stand firm in the grace of God ; 
while we daily approach the mercy-seat with prayer and 



THE BLESSED FRUITS OF FAITH. 325 

thanksgiving. It is the sense of pardoned sin that consti- 
tutes one of the chief ingredients in the peace enjoyed by 
the believer. 

And, therefore, we should keep alive the consciousness 
of the change that has taken place in our relation unto God, 
by meditating frequently upon our former condition, while 
yet in our sins, unreconciled to God, at war with His holy 
government, and our hearts distracted by opposing passions, 
and torn by the painful conviction that we were not what 
Ave ought to be. These contemplations will, at the same 
time, serve to keep us humble : the most suitable frame of 
mind for a pardoned sinner, and best adapted to receive 
and appreciate the benefits of the covenant. God's grace 
is intended exclusively for the humble. " A broken and a 
contrite heart, O God, Thou wilt not des^Dise," says David. 
While the proud are an abomination to the Lord, against 
whom He hath set His face, and will bring them down in 
due time. 

But not only does the justified soul enjoy this sacred 
calm, and happy sense of the divine favor, he is also — as a 
fourth idea, lying in the term, peace — '' blessed with all 
spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ Jesus.'' " All 
things are yours," says the apostle, since '' you are Christ's 
and Christ is God's." Being accepted in the Beloved, there 
is nothing in the power of God to bestow, that He can 
deny us, if we ask it in the name of Christ, and in agree- 
ment with the holy will of God. Has He not of His own 
free will and gracious purpose " given unto us exceeding 
great and precious promises, that by them we might be- 
come partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the 
corruption that is in the world through lust?" And will 
He refuse to grant what He has so freely promised ? Let 
us banish the ungenerous, the ungrateful thought ! 



326 THE BLESSED FEUITS OF FAITH. 

Were we but half as willing to ask, as God is to bestow 
every needed blessing, we should have constant cause to 
bless the Lord for all His benefits towards us. He considers 
Himself honored by our importunity, and only defers grant- 
ing our requests at once, that we may be excited to greater 
earnestness in prayer, that w^e may stir up our souls to lay 
hold on the promises. The word is, " Ask and ye shall re- 
ceive ; seek and ye shall find ; knock and it shall be opened 
unto you." Such are the encouragements which the word 
of God furnishes to all that truly desire to serve and please 
God. " 1^0 good thing will He w^ithhold from them that walk 
uprightly." " Having, therefore," says the apostle, " bold- 
ness," or as it is in the margin, " liberty to enter into the 
holiest by the blood of Jesus, by a new and living way which 
He hath consecrated for us, through the vail, that is to say, 
His flesh, and having a great priest over the house of God, 
let us draw near w^ith a true heart, in full assurance of faith, 
having had our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience and 
our bodies washed with pure water ;" that is, having by 
faith in the meritorious death of Christ been delivered from 
the gna wings of an evil conscience, and having at baptism 
made an open confession of our faith, let us make use of 
our privilege of drawing nigh to God at all times, in the full- 
est confidence of being heard, and having all our wants sup- 
plied from the exhaustless treasures of divine grace and 
mercy. It is not alone the wants of our spirits that we may 
carry to the throne, but our bodily wants, too, are the ob- 
jects of the parental care of our heavenly Father. And 
not only great wants, but the very least of our cares and 
ailments we may lay before Him, assured that nothing is so 
small as to be beneath His notice ; for, as our Saviour as- 
sures us, the very hairs of our head are all numbered, and 
not one can perish without His will. 



THE BLESSED FRUITS OF FAITH. 327 

But the chief of all the gifts which our heavenly Father 
has to bestow upon His children, is that of His Holy Spirit. 
Having already given His Son for us, to work out salvation 
for us externally, He is ready to give us His Holy Spirit to 
apply the same to our hearts. It is this sacred agent alone 
that can make the word effectual for our conviction, our 
conversion, and our eventual salvation. It is his office to 
bring divine truth home to the conscience, the heart, and the 
intellect, and thus to make it the power of God unto salva- 
tion. And having begun a good work in the heart, it is his 
to carry it on, to deepen and extend the same. It is the 
Holy Spirit that restores feeling and tenderness to the heart, 
according to the gracious promise that God would " take 
away the stony heart out of our flesh, and give us a heart 
of flesh" instead. 

It is the office of the Spirit, further, to seal the believer, 
that is, to mark him as God's property in a peculiar sense, 
one of His jewels, just as the most valuable articles are put 
under seal. Or, rather, as the seal affixed to a legal docu- 
ment gives it its full validity, so the sanctifying operations 
of the Spirit upon the heart, put the seal of God to the 
work of grace in the heart. Hence, the Spirit received by 
belierers, and dwelling in therii, is also called the earnest of 
the purchased possession, the binding act of the covenant, 
by which God pledges Himself to its full and complete 
accomplishment. 

li we have the Spirit of Christ, then are we His true and 
acknowledged followers. Then need we not fear to appear 
before Him at His coming. And how shall we ascertain 
whether we nave the Spirit ? By its fruits, such as those 
enumerated by St. Paul to the Galatians, which are, " Love, 
joy, peace, long-suffering, gentleness, goodness, faith ; that 
is, fidelity, veracity, truth, meekness, temperance." Where 



328 THE BLESSED FEUITS OF FAITH. 

these divine principles rule in the heart, and show them- 
selves in the life and outward conduct, there the Spirit of 
God dwells. 

Especially, too, is He a Spirit of humility ; of low thoughts 
of ourselves, and high thoughts of Christ, in His person, 
character, and work. The man who is truly humble has no 
doubt been converted, and is a new creature in Christ Jesus. 
For by nature we are all proud, have high thoughts of our- 
selves and of our ability. Therefore, the very first requi- 
site in order to a true conversion, is that we should feel our 
nnworthiness, so as to be ready to sink as it were into the 
ground, at the thought of our sinfulness and guilt. Thus 
we are prepared to receive the pardon of our sins and sal- 
vation through Christ as a gift, free and undeserved ; we 
are j)rei3ared to do whatever we are commanded, while after 
having done all we shall be ready to acknowledge ourselves 
but unprofitable seiwants, having at best done no more than 
was our duty to do. Humility also fits us to receive the 
various gifts of our gracious Master. 

But the indwelling Spirit is the earnest, too, of our future 
inheritance in another respect. By His vivifying, sanctify- 
ing, and beatifying influences upon the soul, He gives it a 
foretaste, an anticipation of the joys of heaven. This is to 
be obtained by prayer and diligent use of the means of 
grace, joined to a faithful discharge of every personal and 
relative duty. While we are careful to maintain a con- 
science void of ofi'ense towards God and man, and rely alone 
upon the merits and intercession of our great High Priest 
and Mediator, and feel and acknowledge that we can do 
nothino: onlv as God works in us both to will and to do, bv 
His gracious Spirit ; while we are careful to combine an 
humble mind with a diligent performance of our various 
duties, giving the glory where it is due — we may " draw 



THE BLESSED FRUITS OF FAITH. 329 

with joy from the wells of salvation," nay, according to 
our Saviour's promise, we shall have within ourselves " a 
well of living water springing up unto eternal life." 

To have the Spirit of God dwelling and operating in the 
heart, is to be a " partaker of the divine nature," to be re- 
stored to the image of God that was lost in the fall ; it is to 
be owned by God as His child; to enjoy His smiles and 
parental favor ; to be an heir of God, and a fellow-heir with 
Christ Jesus, the elder brother of all that holy and happy 
family in heaven and earth that calls God, Father. 

Heaven and its joys will be but the completion of that 
peace which begins in this world. And if the soul were 
made perfectly and absolutely pure in this life, it would 
here already enjoy the bliss of heaven. But while we con- 
tinue in the flesh we are still beset with temptations, and 
subject to infirmity. What we here enjoy are at last but 
earnests and foretastes, yet, at the same time, sure pledges 
of the pure and perfect peace, that flows like a river from 
the throne of God. "We are saved," says the apostle, ''by 
hope; but hope that is seen," he adds, "is no hope; for 
what a man seeth why doth he yet hope for ? " Again, we 
are taught to look forward to the second coming of Christ, 
when " He shall judge the w^orld in righteousness," for our 
full and final redemption, and complete salvation. 

And this is the fifth and last idea included in the peace 
which the believer enjoys. His faith, and hope, and dili- 
gent perseverance in v/ell doing shall eventually be crowned 
with a complete restoration to all that is included in the 
privilege of being the children of God, and that in a higher 
sense than that in which angels are called the sons of God, 
in virtue of our union with Christ, the head of all principal- 
ity, and power, and dominion — both of this world and of 
that which is to come." 



330 THE BLESSED FEUITS OF FAITH. 

Says the apostle in that triumphant winding up of the 
great subject of man's salvation, as contained in the eighth 
chapter of our epistle: "We know that all things work 
together for good to them that love God, to them who are 
the called according to His purpose. For whom He did 
foreknow. He also did predestinate to be conformed to the 
image of His Son, that He might be the first-born among 
many brethren. Moreover, whom He did predestinate, 
them He also called; and whom He called, them He also 
justified ; and whom He justified, them He also glorified." 

He speaks of the future glorification of the saints as 
though it had taken place already, because in the purpose of 
God it was as certain as if it were already come. Thus 
Christ is called "the Lamb slain from the foundation of the 
world." And thus Paul speaks in another place of our be- 
ing " made to sit in heavenly places in Christ Jesus;" seeing 
God has promised it, and His promise makes it sure as the 
pillars of heaven to all who are interested in the promise. 

But what this is, no tongue can tell, no imagination 
rightly conceive. The apostle gives us a hint where He 
says, " We shall be like Him," i. €., Christ, " for we shall 
see Him as He is," in His native dignity and splendor, of 
which the transfiguration on the Mount afforded some faint 
image. We shall have bodies restored us, resplendent with 
glory, made like to His own glorified body by that Al- 
mighty " power, by which He is able even to subdue all 
things unto Himself." We shall inherit " a kingdom that 
can not be moved," where no change, or fear of change 
can ever enter, where all things being brought to their per- 
fection, shall remain so forever. " The city" which we look 
for is one that has its "foundations" laid deep and firm, 
" whose builder and maker is God." 

When we have once left this tabernacle, we shall receive 



THE BLESSED FRUITS OF FAITH. 331 

" a building not made with hands, eternal in the heavens." 
There shall we pass the hours — if we can yet speak of hours, 
where time will no longer be counted by the revolutions of 
the heavenly bodies — but we shall pass our time in recount- 
ing the wonders of God's grace and providence, and in 
hearing others tell what they have known and experienced 
of the divine wisdom and goodness. There shall we join 
the hosts of the redeemed in ascriptions of praise to that 
kind Saviour, to whose cruel "wounds" that He "received 
in the house of His friends," we shall feel that all our hap- 
piness is owing, " for He is our peace," all the expense of 
our reconciliation with God was required at His hands, as 
our surety ; and He paid the forfeit with His heart's warm 
life-blood ; He did not " faint nor grow weary, till He had 
accomplished the victory over the powers of hell, upon 
which He rested a short time in the grave from all His toils 
and sufferings, and then rose in His own might and His Fa- 
ther's, as conqueror of death and the grave, and of " him 
that had the power of death, that is, the devil." 

There shall we be permitted to look into the heart of 
God, and to study with intense interest and constantly in- 
creasing delight the heights and depths of infinite good- 
ness, power, and love. We shall begin to see more and 
more continually of the inscrutable purposes of Jehovah, 
as displayed in the redemption of our race, and the salva- 
tion of all that believe. 

There shall we also meet, no doubt, with denizens of 
other worlds, and hear them tell what God has wrought 
for them, and how His wisdom and goodness have been 
there manifested. 

But yet, after all, the most joyful and the most exultant 
song, and that which will redound ab^ve all others to the 
glory of His grace, will bo the song of the redeemed of the 



332 THE BLESSED FRUITS OF FAITPI. 

human race, even "the song of Moses and the Lamb," of 
which the favored and beloved disciple heard some strains 
when he was in the spirit, on the Isle of Patmos, whither 
he had been banished for the sake of Christ. May we but 
once be permitted to join in that song of " Glory to God in 
the highest," for "peace proclaimed on earth and good-will 
shown to men." 

There shall no sorrow, nor grief, nor fear, nor doubt find 
entrance. Here we see in part, we know in part. We 
have to live on trust. Often we feel afraid — conscious of 
our weakness, that after all we may fail of securing our sal- 
vation ; that some temptation may yet befall us that will 
prove too strong for our resolution ; that in some unguarded 
hour the enemy may take us in his toils ; for " as a roaring 
lion he goeth about seeking whom he may devour." Many 
who seem to have been as firmly grounded in faith as we 
are, are known to have gone back into the world, and how 
do we know but that we, too, may do so yet ? But then — 
should we be so happy as once to arrive there, there will be 
no longer any fear of a reverse. All change will have 
" come to a perpetual end." For this let us wait, let us 
pray, let us labor. "Yet a little while, and He that shall 
come will come, and will not tarry." Soon the present 
scene, with its trials and temptations, will be over, but we 
"have need of patience, that after we have done the will 
of God and served Him in our day and generation, we 
might receive the promise." 

Now, all these blessings that are included in the peace 
that we have with God, are through our Lord Jesus Christ. 
To Him we owe it that God's Justice has been satisfied, 
His law rendered honorable in the sight of angels and men, 
and a way opened by which we may return, if we seize the 
gracious opportunity afibrded us in this " accepted time and 



THE BLESSED FRUITS OP FAITH. 333 

day of salvation." Let us gratefully acknowledge Him as 
" tlie Author and Finisher of our faith." Let us give Him 
the glory due unto His name. But let it not be a mere 
homage of the lips, to which the heart is a stranger. And 
to prove to others and to ourselves that we are in earnest, 
let us set up some memorial of our gratitude. 

Like Mary, whose brother Christ had restored to life, 
who, in the overflowings of her grateful devotion, poured 
the contents of her box of ointment upon His sacred head, 
and when she was rebuked by the disciples for her extrav- 
agance, received from the lips of her Saviour the assurance 
of His approbation of her conduct. If we feel, indeed, that 
He has restored life, spiritual and eternal life, far more pre- 
cious than this earthly and bodily life, to our own soul, 
nearer yet than any earthly relative, however dear, what 
will we do to testify our grateful sense of His mercy? 

By partaking of the solemn memorials of His death and 
sufferings, and thus showing His death till He come, and 
professing ourselves His disciples, we give a public expres- 
sion of our gratitude. 

But this is not enough. We must engage actively in 
His service, if we would make an acceptable offering. We 
can not do any thing to Him in person, as He has with- 
drawn His bodily presence from earth. But we can do 
something for His cause. We can strive to win over others 
to the gospel. We can contribute to the spread of the 
truth in our own and other lands. 

The present is a time in which by His Providence Christ 
calls upon all His followers to labor and contribute, each 
one according to the ability and means put in his power. 
Every one has his station and his w^ork assigned him to at- 
tend to in the absence of His Lord, and happy " is that 
servant whom his Lord when He cometh shall find so 



334 THE BLESSED FETirS OF FAITH. 

doing !" Happy is every one that makes a fall and life-long 
consecration of himself with all his property and means of 
doing good, to the service of Christ. We ?.Te all of us yet 
far behind the times, and the requirement: - rimes, in 

this matter. Christians are not yet awake to their i r-^ :n- 
sibility ; or, at least, but few are. The majority are sunk in 
a lethargy that is truly lamentable. 

But, further, we learn from our text that if we would en- 
joy this "peace of God which passeth all underst:i:: ling/* 
we must seek it by faith, for it is only if we have b^cn just- 
ified by faith, that we have, or can have, peace with God. 
All other ways will be found vain and ineffectual. Thus 
the Jews in the apostle's time sought to obtain -" ■ ■ y 
their own merits and observance of the law, .. n: ... v:,.n : 
for " Israel," as the apostle tells us, " which followed after 
the law of righteousness, hath not attained unto righteous- 
ness :" though many might have said with truth io a certain 
sense, as did the young ruler who came to Christ to know 
what he must do to inherit eternal life, that all these things 
they had observed from their youth. 

So did Paul, who was brought up in the straitest sect of 
their religion, a Pharisee. But all availed not. They could 
not in this way obtain, as no one ever in this way has ol> 
tained, or will obtain, justification in the sight of Go:!. The 
evil conscience still remained — ^unappeased, unsatisfied. If, 
therefore, you would have true peace of mind, a quiet con- 
science, and an assured hope, go to Christ by faitn. C t.-t 
yourself simply upon Him, wdth all your sins, and all your 
sorrows, and all your cares, and all your fears. " Believe 
in the Lord Jesus Christ, and you shall be saved." 

If you ever hope to be saved, to be happy, to enjoy the 
favor of God, go to Christ. Go now. Go just as yau are. 
Loiter not. Stop not to parley with the tempter. Long 



THE BLESSED FRUITS OP FAITH. o35 

enongh have you listened to his syren song of time enough 
and to spare ; of no need to JDe in haste. God is merciful. 
He will be just as ready to receive you a year hence as now. 
*' Ye shall not surely die." TVill you again suffer the half- 
formed resolution to be smothered in the birth by such 
deceitful arguments ? 

Will you listen to the destroyer of souls in preference to 
listening to the invitation of the Saviour who has commis- 
sioned His servants to invite men to the marriage supper ; 
who says by His Word and Spirit, " To»day, if ye will hear 
His voice, harden not your hearts ?" Do you not desire to 
have peace, ''peace with God through our Lord Jesus 
Christ ?" Can you bear to live at enmity any longer to 
your Maker, your Benefactor, your Saviour ? Are you not 
afraid to provoke His displeasure any further by your unbe- 
lief and obstinacy ? What if He should swear concerning 
you as He did to those rebellious Israelites, who fell in the 
wilderness, that you who treat His kind offers with contempt 
shall never enter into rest ; that you shall have the Almighty 
for your enemy through all eternity ? 

You may yet be saved ; if you will now believe that God 
has purposes of grace and mercy over you ; that for you 
He gave up His only begotten Son ; for you the Saviour 
died and rose again, and ever lives to intercede for you in 
the courts of heaven, if you will but commit your cause 
into His hands; if you come to Him with acknowledgments 
of your guilt and folly, and cast yourselves simply upon 
His grace, as lost, ruined, helpless, hell-deserving sinners. 
Then shall you, too, be justified when you thus simply be- 
lieve in the Lord Jesus, gratefully receiving " the record 
which God hath given of His Son." And being thus justi- 
fied, you will have peace with God — your fears and doubts, 
your sorrow and remorse will be dispelled. Joy will take 



336 THE BLESSED FEUITS OF EAITH. 

possession of your heart. The love of God will be shed 
abroad in your soul by the Holy Spirit whom you will re- 
ceive as the evidence, the seal and pledge of your acceptance. 

Why, then, will you delay ? Is it too soon to begin to be 
happy ; to enjoy peace, and the testimony of a good con- 
science, a conscience sprinkled from dead works to serve 
the living God ? Is it too soon to be enrolled in the family 
of God ; to have your names inscribed in the book of life, 
as citizens of the Xew Jerusalem ; to have a portion and an 
inheritance laid up for you that will satisfy your utmost de- 
sire through all eternity ? 

Do you say. But I have been such a sinner that God can 
not receive me ? Then call to mind what the apostle says in 
the chapter from which our text is taken : " God commend- 
eth His love towards us in that while we were yet sinners, 
Christ died for us." It was as sinners, and because we were 
sinners, that He died in our stead. And now the benefit of 
His death is free for all that will come and take of the 
waters of life. The greatest ignominy you can put upon 
Him is to despise His salvation, to trample His blood under 
foot, and reject His offered mediation. 

iSText, and only next in atrocity it is, to doubt the virtue 
of His bloody sacrifice, to question His power to save, or 
His willingness to receive even the chief of sinners. 

Do not, then, by your own act cut yourselves off from this 
great salvation. Xeglect it no longer, for you may be sure 
that if you do, and if you should die in your sin, you will 
be held accountable for your conduct ; and of all your sins 
the most dark and aggravated, and which will draw down 
the heaviest doom upon your devoted head, will be that you 
rejected the mediation of the Saviour. "These mine ene- 
mies,'- He will one day say, ''that would not that I should 
reign over them, bring hither and slay them, before me." 



THE BLESSED FRUITS OP FAITH. 337 

Would you have that fervor of love which drew the Sav- 
iour down from heaven to seek and save us, lost, perishing 
sinners, converted into wrath, and poured in hot streams 
upon you — or will you now " acquaint yourself with Him 
and be at peace ?" Remember, there is a line, which if you 
once have passed it, there is no return ; a line invisible to 
mortal sense ; but which, as the sinner approaches, a cold 
shudder sometimes runs over him, while he feels that there 
is but a step between him and death. Will you madly keep 
on till you have crossed this line, and the Spirit have taken 
His everlasting flight, and you are left to be bound with the 
chains of eternal despair ? Think, O sinner, think what 
you are about ! Consider that life and death are placed 
before you. Which do you choose ? 

But such, also, as have tasted that the Lord is gracious, 
should bear in mind that to preserve the sense of the peace 
of God, they must continue to believe ; for it is " by his 
faith that the just shall live; but if any man draw back, my 
soul shall have no pleasure in him, saith the Lord." That 
we may escape this sad fate, we ought to " give " constant 
and " earnest heed to the things that we have heard, lest at 
any time we should let them slip»" 

We should be much in prayer for " grace to help in time 
of need." We should cultivate a spirit of gratitude and 
praise. And especially we must keep our eye fixed upon 
" Jesus, the Author and Finisher of faith,'' who " has left 
us an example that we should tread in His steps." It is 
only by learning of Him, follovving Him in His active life 
of obedience to His heavenly Father's will, and His zeal 
for His heavenly Father's glory, that we can put up our 
humble claim to be His disciples. And though this seems 
hard, and would be impossible for flesh and blood, yet He 
is ready to bestow all needed grace. 

15 



S3S THE BLESSED mUIT'S OF FAITH. 

He lias promised to be with His T:*eople unto the end of 
time. And He has not yet forsaken His Church. " The 
gates of hell " have not yet prev ailed against her, nor shall 
they ; but His cause shall go on prosperonslj, tin it has 
OTercome every obstacle, and trimnphed over every foe, 
and £Iled the earth with the knowledge of salvation; till 
" peace on earth '' shall be realized in blessed experience by 
the redeemed and sanctified nations of the earth. 

And would we share in this peace, then must we give all 
diligence to make our cafliiig and election sure ; dailj prais- 
ing God for His loving kindne^ ^id **BGs mercy" which 
" endureth for ever." Let us, th^i, " examine ourselves 
whether we be in the &ith i^ whether we have the evidence 
of our justification; **the peace of God whidi passeth all 
understanding;" whether we have been troly recondled 
unto His holy government, and can say fix>m the heart, 
whatever may betide, *' not my will but Thine be d<me." 
" It is the Lord, let Him do what seemeth Him good." 



SERiSION XIX. 

EXCELLENCE AXD SUFFICIE^^CY OF THE GOSPEL. 

" For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ ; for it is the power of God 
unto salvation, to every one that beheveth ; to the Jew first, and also 
to the Greek." — Romans, L 16. 

OxE or the other of our hearers may have been struck 
by the assertion of the apostle that he is not ashamed of the 
gospel of Christ, as being of a singular character. 

For why should he be ashamed of it ? Is it not mani- 
festly a subject of the highest moment and of the greatest 
excellence, of which he or any other man might well boast ; 
and was not the appointment to publish this gospel the 
highest honor that could be conferred upon any one ? 

All this is very true ; and yet there was reason for the 
apostle to speak as he did. In our day, indeed, when the 
gospel has for nearly twenty centuries maintained itself 
against all opposition, has revived after a long night of ig- 
norance and superstition, has proved convincingly that it 
contains a living principle which no powers of earth or hell 
are able to extinguish ; when Christianity is the professed 
religion of all the most enlightened, and refined, and pow- 
erful nations of the earth, — in our day such a declaration 
may appear to be out of place. Xot so at the time when 
this epistle was penned. Though then, as now, the gospel 
displayed its divine power upon all that honestly examined 
and humbly received it, yet to the world at large it presented 



340 EXCELLEXCY AND SUFFICIENCY 

itself under many discouraging circumstances. To the big- 
oted Jew, to the vain and sj^eculative Greek, to the proud 
and sensual Roman, to the ignorant and superstitious barba- 
rian, the gospel and its adherents appeared in the light of 
an upstart sect, heretical, silly, insignificant, and atheistical. 
It had all the learning, wisdom, and power of the world to 
encounter. It was every where decried, derided, persecu- 
ted. The teachers of this new doctrine were treated as the 
scum and offscouring of mankind. They met with opposi- 
tion in every form and from every quarter. From their 
countrymen as traitors and heretics ; from the enlightened 
part of the heathen world as ignorant enthusiasts and mad 
men ; from the common people as enemies of the gods and 
haters of mankind— -as the disturbers of the public peace, 
and out of the pale of humanity, who ought to be destroyed 
without a hearing or a trial as a public nuisance. 

Under such circumstances, I leave it to your judgment, 
whether it required not more than ordinary fortitude, not 
only to adhere to a cause every where spoken against, but 
to persist in proclaiming and extending the gospel of Christ, 
and whether it was not a proof of uncommon strength of 
mind in the apostle, joined to a firm conviction of the jus- 
tice, the excellence, and the divine origin of the cause in 
which he was engaged, when he thus solemnly declares that 
he is not ashamed of the gospel of Christ ; a declaration 
which is fully borne out by all his previous and subsequent 
conduct, from the time when he was first " called to be an 
aj^ostle," till he closed his laborious and successful career 
by a martyr's death. 

And truly, as we have observed already, in itself consid- 
ered, the gospel was not any thing to be ashamed of, nor 
did it then, any more than now, fail to recommend itself to 



OF THE GOSrEL. 341 

the understanding and conscience of every one that gave 
its claim a fair and fliithful examination. 

But, like its divine Author, it made its entrance into the 
world under the guise of weakness, and poverty, and 
insignificance. It disdained all worldly aid that it might 
the more clearly appear to be " the power of God ;" and 
that none but simple hearted, honest souls, sensible of 
their ignorance and wretchedness might be attracted 
by it. 

And if men had been willing, I mean the learned and 
wise, to examine and receive the gospel upon its own mer- 
its and those of its Author, there would have been no occa- 
sion for the apostle's assertion. For what was there in the 
gospel itself to be ashamed of? Was it not emphatically 
w^hat its name implies, good news, " glad tidings that should 
be to all people." Was not its substance, its aim, and its 
effect, " Glory to God in the highest, on earth peace, good- 
will toward men." 

And was it not the gospel of Christ, the Son of God, the 
benevolent Redeemer, the Almighty Saviour ? Why, then, 
should he be ashamed ? But it is our intention at this 
time, beloved hearers, to enlarge upon the reason assigned 
by St. Paul why he was not ashamed — nay, why he gloried in 
the gospel and in his office as a divinely appointed preacher 
of the same; a reason which he thus expresses: "for it is 
the power of God unto salvation to every one that believ- 
eth; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek," from which 
we shall derive the following theme : that 

The gospel is the grand means ordained by God to 
make us happy in time and eternity. 

In further developing this idea we shall consider, 

I. That it is God^s power. 

IL That it is 2ip'>wer^ an effectual means. 



342 THE EXCELLENCY AXD SUFFICIENCY 

III. That is is a power unto salvatio7i^ insuring hap- 
piness. 

And do Thou, Lord, grant that the result of our medi- 
tations to-day may be, that each one of us may be able to 
add his experience that the gospel of Christ is indeed a di- 
vine power unto salvation ! 

I. We are to consider that the gospel is God's lyower. 
This we shall endeavor to do under the following heads: 

First. It was contrived. 

Second, It was executed^ and 

Third, It is o:pijlied by God. 

The gospel may be justly called the power of God, inas- 
much as it was contrived by God. The intention to unite 
all His rational and obedient subjects under one Head 
which is Christ, entered into the original plan of the 
Creation, as we are plainly taught in the New Testament. 
Speaking of Christ, the apostle says to the Colossians, that, 
'' all things were created by Him and for ffim ;" and to the 
Philippians he writes, '' that at the name of Jesus every 
knee should bow, of things in heaven and things in earth, 
and things under the earth ; and that every tongue should 
confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God 
the Father ;" to the Hebrews : " When He bringeth in 
(introduceth) the First Begotten into the world, He saith, 
And let all the angels of God worship Him." Thus it is 
plain that Christ is appointed Head and Lord of the moral 
universe. Xor is there any absurdity in the supposition 
made by Milton, that the rebellion of the fallen angels con- 
sisted specifically in refusing to yield obedience to the Son. 

But, whereas God from eternity foresaw the fall of 
Adam, and the consequent ruin that he would thereby 
bring upon the whole race. He also determined from eter- 
nity to provide a remedy, by sending His Son, " in the full- 



OF THE GOSPEL, 343 

ness of time," that is, when the suitable time should arrive, 
to assume our nature, and become our Substitute and Re- 
deemer. Hence, we are said to be " chosen in Him," that 
is, Christ, " before the foundation of the w^orld ;" to be, 
"predestinated to be conformed to the image of His 
Son." 

In short, the stupendous plan of saving sinners through 
the sufferings and death of God's well beloved and only be- 
gotten Son, may well be considered as the favorite project, 
if we may be allowed the expression, of the Deity from all 
eternity, upon which all the stores of divine wisdom and 
knowledge were exhausted; a plan, in view of which, in 
some of its manifestations, the apostle breaks out into an 
exclamation of admiring rapture and overwhelming aston- 
ishment, in language like this : " Oh, the depth of the riches 
both of the wisdom and knowledge of God ! How un- 
searchable are His judgments, and His w^ays past finding 
out ! For who hath known the mind of the Lord, or who 
hath been His counselor ? or who hath first given unto 
Him, and it shall be recompensed unto him again ? For of 
Him, and through Him, and to Him are all things ; to whom 
be glory for ever!" Amem 

This " purpose of Him who worketh all things after the 
counsel of His own will," included in its intention all things 
relating to our salvation throughout eternity, or, as the 
apostle speaks respecting those who are the happy subjects 
of it, that "whom He did foreknow, He also did predesti- 
nate, and whom He did predestinate, them He also called, 
and whom He called, them He also justified, and whom He 
justified, them He also glorified." "According," says 
another apostle, "as His divine power hath given nnto us 
all things that pertain unto life and godliness, through the 
knowledge of Him that hath called us to glory and virtue, 



344 THE EXCELLENCY AND SUFFICIENCY 

whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious 
promises." 

For this the M^orlds were made by His word, and "by 
the same word are kept in store," preserved until He has 
made up His jewels, '^ when the heavens shall pass away 
with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent 
heat." All this visible scene of things, grand and beautiful 
as it is, is but the stage on which the great drama of God's 
purposes is acted, and when these are accompUshed it will 
be removed, as He hath promised. " Yet once more I shake 
not the earth only, but also heaven." And this word, yet 
once more, signineth the removing of those things that are 
shaken, as of things that are made, that those things, ''and 
none but those, which can not be shaken, may remain." 

But not only was the gospel plan contrived — Secondly^ 
it was also executed by God. 

It is the Eternal Son, the Word who from eternity was 
with God and was God, that executed the wonderful plan 
of human redemption. And though the Father and the 
Holy Spirit had both of them an important share in the 
work, yet the actual execution fell to the Son. " The word 
was made flesh and dwelt among us." In the person of 
Jesus Christ, was displayed the great mystery of godliness 
— God manifest in the flesh, a mystery to angels and men, 
when He who was in the form of God took on Him the 
form of a servant, that by His meritorious life and death, 
by His doctrine and His example, His obedience and sub- 
mission to the Father, His vicarious sufierings, His glorious 
resurrection and ascension. He might bring in an everlast- 
ing righteousness and become the Author of eternal salva- 
tion to all that obey Him. What must be the value of that 
salvation which it cost the life of the Son of God to accom- 
plish ? What must be the virtue of remedy extracted, as I 



OF THE GOSPEL. 345 

may say, from the veins of Emmanuel ? Can we doubt its 
efficacy ? Can we hesitate to consider it as being " the 
power of God ? 

Thirdly, Xot only was it contrived and executed, but it 
is also applied by God. Xothing less would make it effi- 
cient; not from any innate defect in the remedy, but be- 
cause it would otherwise never come in contact with the 
human heart. And it is the Spirit of God who applies the 
gospel to the heart. "It is God that worketh in you," says 
St. Paul to the Philippians, '• both to will and to do after 
His good pleasure." 

Our Lord says to the Jews: "It is written in the proph- 
ets, And they shall be all taught of God." But it is the 
office of the Holy Spirit to enlighten, to convert, and to 
sanctify; wherefore believers are called the temple of God, 
from the Spirit of God that dwelleth in them. Such is the 
natural aversion of man to the truths of God, that were it 
not for the quickening influences of the Spirit, none would 
receive them. What constitutes the distinguishing charac- 
teristic of the Xew Covenant is, that it is the "ministration 
of the Spirit." 

In all these respects the gospel of Christ is the power of 
God, upon which the blessed Trinity has in a manner ex- 
hausted all its fullness; in which the character of Jehovah 
is displayed in its utmost loveliness, benignity, wisdom, and 
might. Such is the gospel of which St. Paul was not 
ashamed. And surely, ice have no reason to be ashamed 
of it, however it may be despised and made light of by 
men. 

II. The gospel is a 'power^ it is efiectual. This follows, 
of course, from our previous observations,, but it may not 
be amiss to notice in what respects. 

And firsts as an appropriate means, as being both in its 

15^ 



346 THE EXCELLENCY AND SUFFICIENCY 

nature and in its results consistent with the character of 
God. 

In its 7iature. The gospel is holy as God is. It contains 
the most striking exhibition of the hohness of God, of His 
aversion to sin, His justice, His veracity, that is to be met 
with, or that could be conceived, or that it was possible for 
God to afford to His rational Creation. 

Rather than violate His word ; sooner than let His holy 
law be tramj)led upon with impunity, rather than let sin 
pass without its deserved punishment, God visited the 
crimes of men upon His only begotten Son, when He had 
voluntarily consented to take our place, to be our God, our 
Kinsman, our Redeemer. 

Who now dare sin in the hope of escaping the merited 
punishment, when God, intending to save men, " made Him 
to be sin for us who knew no sin, that we might be made 
the righteousness of God through Him." Who of all the 
transgressors in the Universe can complain that he is dealt 
with with undue severity, when God so visited the sins of 
the world upon His beloved Son? Who can persuade him- 
self that sin is a trifling evil, when he considers what it cost 
the Saviour to atone for it ; or, can you yet choose to con- 
tinue in a sinful state, when deliverance is offered, that was 
purchased at such a price ? 

But the benignity and love of God are preeminently dis- 
played in the scheme of redem]3tion. To this point the 
Scriptures repeatedly direct our grateful attention. "God 
so loved the world ; " " God commendeth His love towards 
us." " The Lord hath appeared of old unto me," is the 
confession of the Church, " saying. Yea, I have loved thee 
with an everlasting love, therefore, with loving kindness 
have I drawn thee." Love is the distinguishing attribute 
of God, and the highest display of love is mercy to the 



OF THE GOSPEL. 347 

guilty ; and this is the most marked trait of the gospel, 
which is preeminently a dispensation of mercy. " Therein 
is the righteousness of God revealed from faith to faith." 
" Therefore it is of faith, that it might be by grace." The 
salvation which the gospel presents is pure grace, unmerited 
favor. And thus the honor of God is secured. " Where is 
boasting, then ? " asks the apostle. " It is excluded." The 
glory of our salvation will be forever due, and forerer as- 
cribed to God, who is the Author of it. 

The approjDriateness of the gospel is also manifest from 
its results. As it proceeds from a holy God, so its tendency 
is to make men holy. 

The law commands^ the gospel enables us to become holy. 
The holiness of the creature consists in conformity to the 
character and law of God. And the fulfilling of the law is 
love. By rekindling in the human heart the fire of love 
that had been extinguished by sin, the restoration to holi- 
ness is effected. But '' we love Him because He first loved 
us." 

Gratitude for the unspeakable gift of a Saviour is the 
first emotion of reviving love to God. And this depends 
for its exercise on the sense we have of the benefit ; " to 
whom little is foro-iven the same loveth little." This feel- 
ino^ once excited, the intercourse is ao-ain restored between 
the soul and its Maker ; and in its advances to a constantly 
increasing intimacy, the lost image of God is again impress- 
ed upon man. '' We all, with open face beholding as in a 
glass the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same im- 
age from glory to glory, as by the spirit of the Lord." And 
this happy change, begun in time, will be perfected in eter- 
nity. " When He," Christ, " shall appear, we shall be like 
Him, for we shall see Him as He is." " As we have borne 



348 THE EXCELLEXCT AXD SUFFICIENCY 

the image of the earthy, we shall also bear the image of the 
heavenly." 

Secondly. Let us consider the gospel as a divine power 
in its suitahUness to our wants, whether we regard man as 
a rational, as a feeling, as a feeble, or as a fallen creature. 

The suitableness of the gospel will appear, if we regard 
man as a rational creature, capable of judging and reflect- 
ing. The gospel addresses itself primarily to our reason. 
It demands attention ; it challenges investigation. The 
more closely its claims are scrutinized, the more imperative 
they will be seen to be. God requires us to " worship Him 
in spirit and in truth." In spirit, that is, with all our pow- 
ers, with the utmost stretch of our minds. In order to this 
we must learn to worship Him in truth, i. 6., from the most 
intimate conviction of our minds that we owe to Him as 
the Greatest, Loveliest and Best of Beings, all that homage 
and reverence which He claims. 

This conviction the gospel is calculated to produce. 
Hence, it is termed a light. The eyes of our understand- 
ing are enlightened. The fault of those who continue in 
disobedience is that they shut their eyes against the light, 
"lest," as our Saviour says, " their deeds should be reprov- 
ed." 

Again, the suitableness of the gospel will appear if we 
regard man as a feeling creature, as endowed witli various 
passions and sensibilities. It addresses itself to our hopes 
and fears ; to our gratitude and love ; to our desire of hap- 
piness, our conscience and sense of duty. In all these ways 
it operates, and that powerfully, whenever and wherever it 
is received with attention and docility. It purifies the 
springs of action, and infuses new energy into the heart, as 
well as that it gives a new direction to our afiections. 
Hence, we are assured that " if any man is in Christ, he is 



OF THE GOSPEL. 349 

a new creature," agreeably to our Saviour's declaration : 
" Ye must be born again ; " or, as St. James expresses it : 
" Of His own will begat He us with the word of truth." 

The gospel is also suited to man as a feeble creature. It 
promises and secures to him" that aid from above, which is 
indispensable to a life of devotion and virtue. " What the 
law could not do, in that it was weak through the flesh, 
God " has accomplished through the gospel, its hopes, its 
promises, its aid and encouragement. " I can do all things," 
is the triumphant language of Paul, " through Christ which 
strengtheneth me." " He said unto me : My grace is suffi- 
cient for thee ; for my strength is made perfect ( ?. e., most 
signally displayed) in weakness. Most gladly, therefore," 
adds the apostle, " will I rather glory in my infirmities, that 
the power of Christ may rest upon me." And such is the 
experience of every true believer. While conscious of bis 
own weakness, he rejoices in the strength of his Lord, which 
is ever ready to be exerted in him and for him. How happy 
is he whose shield the Lord is. 

But above all the suitableness of the gospel will be man- 
ifest when we consider man as a fallen creature ; and this 
both in regard to his guilt and his corruption. 

Man is a guilty creature. He has the consciousness of 
his ill-desert wdthin him, which, like a rankling sore, keeps 
him constantly uneasy. We do not mean that in all, or 
even in most individuals this feeling has assumed a definite 
form ; but as with some diseases of the body, we feel that 
there is some thing wrong, though we can not point out the 
precise spot, nor determine the exact nature of the disorder. 
But when the mind has been enlightened by the rays of di" 
vine truth, when the sinner discovers the extent and claims 
of the law of God, which he has broken, and hears the thun- 
ders which it utters against all transgressors, and realizes that 



350 THE EXCELLENCY AXD SLTFICIEXCY 

he is justly amenable to its righteous tribunal — when the ter- 
rors of an awakened conscience have seized his soul — then, 
how sweetly, in accents of mercy and love, does the gospel 
come in to his relief, and assure him that his sins, though 
great, do not exceed the mercy of the Lord, " that where 
sin has abounded, grace has much more abounded." 

How suitable, then, does the provision appear, which a 
God of infinite compassion has made for our salvation. 
When almost crushed under the burden of his guilt, how 
welcome the voice of the Saviour " preaching peace to them 
that are afar off, and them that are near." How soothing 
the balm that the kind physician pours into his wounds ! 
How gentle the hand that raises him up, and how gracious 
the voice that bids him live! What joy, peace, and holy 
calm now fill his breast ! What gratitnde and devotion 
now take possession of his soul. " While I live, will I praise 
the Lord ; I will sing praises unto my God while I have any 
being. Oh ! give thanks unto the Lord for He is good ; for 
His mercy endureth for ever." 

Again the suitableness of the gospel will be manifest, 
when we consider man as depraved. N'ot only has be by 
sin lost the sense of the divine approbation, he has also lost 
the ability to keep the holy law of God, his powers are 
lamed ; the balance has been destroyed ; corrupt desires 
and sinful passions preponderate. Hence, even if he would, 
he could not so observe the divine law as to be justified on 
the ground of his own obedience. Here, too, the gospel 
steps in to his relief, and proves itself a divine power. 

It requires nothing of him but what he is able to perform. 
It calls upon him to accept life and salvation as the free gift 
of God, bestowed upon all that ask it in the name of Christ. 
And whoever thus draws nigh to God in faith, shall find all 
his desires gratified, all his wants supplied, all his hopes ex- 



OF THE GOSPEL. 351 

ceeded. His soul will be restored to soundness ; his nature 
renewed ; his former inability to serve God removed. It 
will now be his meat and drink to do the will of God. He 
will delight in His law after the inner man. 

ni. We come, next, to observe that the gospel of Christ 
is the power of God mito Salvation, Salvation is its object 
and intention, and we may feel assured that this object will 
be finally attained. This lies in what we have already con- 
sidered. If the gospel is the power of God ; if it is divine 
in its origin, contrived, executed, and applied by God Him- 
self; if, further, it is consistent with the character of God, 
and adapted to the nature and wants of man, it must be 
efficacious in producing the end for which it was instituted. 
But it will be proper to dwell upon this point somewhat at 
large. 

The gospel, then, wherever it is known and admitted into 
the heart, will work salvation. 

This salvation is two-fold — negative and positive. Nega- 
tively it is a deliverance from guilt, sin, misery, hei-e and 
hereafter. 

The gospel brings with it deliverance from guilt. This is 
in Scripture termed justification. The expression is derived 
from legal proceedings, and signifies as much as acquittal. 
The sinner is viewed as a criminal arraigned before the bar 
of God, acting through conscience as His deputy. The 
law pronounces him guilty, and threatens him with death. 
This sentence, when fairly understood, fills the culprit with 
dread. He feels that it is deserved and he knows not how 
to escape. 

Then it is that the gospel shows him a way of obtaining 
a reversal of the sentence. It presents to him the vicarious 
death of the Son of God, endured for the sins of men, as a 
propitiation for the sins of the whole world. This plea he 



o52 THE ZXCELLEXCY AXD SUEFICIEXCY 

is allowed to put in, provided he accepts the terms. This 
plea, urged in earnest, is fully adequate to procure his ac- 
quittal. Conscience is appeased. God is no longer angry. 
He says, " Spare him for I have found a ransom," "Where- 
fore, being justified by faith we have peace with God, who 
is just, and the justifier of him that belie veth in Jesus." 
The law is satisfied, for Christ has atoned for sin. He has 
made full and sufficient amends to the violated majesty of 
the law. 

Thus the sinner feels himself reheved from the oppressive 
bm'den of guilt. He has now a good conscience towards 
God. He can approach the throne of grace with confi- 
dence and pray in faith, with the assurance founded upon 
the word of Christ, that whatever he asks in His name, the 
Father will grant it, so far as it is for his good. This is the 
first branch of the salvation wrought by the gospel. 

Perhaps some maybe ready to ask. If Christ has actually 
paid the debt, why is it required that we should believe in 
order to share in the benefit ? Why not, and will not all 
men be saved whether they know any thing about it or 
not? As to those who never enjoyed the means of know- 
ing the gospel, we decide nothing. It does not concern us. 
They are in the hands of a just and good God who will 
deal with them according to His mercy and holiness. But 
for those who have heard the gospel and enjoy the means 
of knowing it, two reasons may be assigned why it is abso- 
lutely necessary that they should believe in order to share 
in the benefit of Christ's death. 

One is justice to the sinner himself. It is but right that 
his assent should be obtained in a transaction that so nearly 
concerns him. Xow, should he reject the ofi'ered media- 
tion of Christ, and choose rather to be his own saviour and 
stand upon his own merits, unbeholden to any one ; if this 



OF THE GOSPEL. 353 

be his determination, it would actually and obviously be in- 
justice towards him to compel him to something else than 
a fair trial by the law. 

The other reason is one of kindness to the sinnner. For 
if the act of acquittal were passed without his knowledge, 
(admitting that his consent would of course follow), what 
would he be benefited ? At least, so long as he remained 
ignorant of his acquittal, he would be harassed by the same 
fears and terrors as before. And thus, all the happy effects 
which flow from the sense of justification would be lost. 

Your consent, therefore, you are sensible, is requisite. 
And this must be a hearty consent. There is no room here 
for pretense and equivocation. If you do not believe with 
the heart, with all your powers, you do not in truth believe 
at all. 

But, secondly^ the gospel effects a salvation from sin. It 
were of little avail to pardon the guilt, unless the sin which 
produces it were removed. They entirely misconceive the 
nature of the gospel who expect to be saved by it while 
they continue to live in sin. This would be like removing 
the pain of a disease, if such a thing were possible, without 
curing the disease itself. The effect of such a procedure 
could not be otherwise than injurious. The pain, in one 
point of view, so far from being an evil, that it is wisely and 
kindly ordained to be an admonition that something is 
amiss, in order that time and opportunity may be afforded 
for its cure. 

The gospel as being the power of God, works an effect- 
ual cure. It not only removes the sense of guilt, but it de- 
stroys the love of sin ; and though while we are in the body 
we are still liable to temptation, yet it affords aid against 
this — " whereby are given unto us exceeding great and pre- 
cious picmises, that by these ye might be partakers of the 



354 THE EXCELLENCY AND SUmCIENCY 

divine nature, having escaped the corruption which is in the 
world through lust." The promises of God are not mere 
words, they are words of life, living and life-giving words. 
To believe them is to receive the benefit of them. And 
thus the apostle is authorized to say to Christians: "Sin 
shall not have dominion over you, for ye are not under the 
law but under grace." " Ask and ye shall receive." 

The power of sin is destroyed, for the love of sin is 
rooted out. Like a tree that has been cut down, though it 
may put forth leaves and blossoms for a season, yet before 
long it must die. Therefore, says the apostle : " Whosoever 
is born of God does not commit sin ; for His seed remaineth 
in him, and he can not sin because he is born of God. He 
that committeth sin is of the devil." 

Closely connected with deliverance from guilt and sin, is 
the deliverance from msery. All pain, and sorrow, and 
death, is to be traced to sin as its origin. Sin, therefore, 
being removed, so we might think would be pain. And so 
it is ; but not all at once. The effects of a burn will be felt 
long after the fire has been removed. So there are pains 
and sorrows, afflictions and trials, cleaving to the best of 
men ; partly to remind them of the ruined condition in 
which they once were, and thus to quicken their gratitude 
toward Christ, and diligence in His service, to keep them 
humble and jDrayerful ; partly because there are still remains 
of corruption, some roots of evil after the tree has been cut 
down, which need to be eradicated, and hence the chasten- 
ing rod is applied ; as we read, that " whom the Lord loveth 
He chasteneth, and scourgeth every son whom He receiv- 
eth ;" partly^ too, for the trial of their faith, and their im- 
provement in virtue. 

It holds in spiritual equally as in temporal things, that 
practice makes perfect ; that it is only in the field of actual 



OF THE GOSPEL. 355 

service, that a man can perfectly cultivate his faculties. It 
is war that makes the accomplished captain ; the dangers of 
the seas that form the sailor. And so it is trials and suffer- 
ings that form the veteran soldier of the cross ; for even the 
Captain of our salvation was perfected by sufferings, and 
learned obedience in this school. Who, then, would wish to 
avoid sufferings which have so important a bearing upon our 
perfection ? 

Especially when we look forward to the happy issue that 
will be granted to all our trials, when cheerfully endured 
for Christ's sake. For soon this earthly life will close, and 
then will begin to every sincere Christian, a life of unmin- 
gled holiness, peace, and joy in the presence of Christ. 

But even in this life, the Christian escapes much sorrow to 
which the unbeliever is e:^posed. Though the same storm 
may assail both, yet the believer has his head guarded by 
the helmet of salvation, and can shelter himself under the 
shadow of a great rock ; while the unbeliever is obliged to 
weather the storm without any protection. " The sting of 
death," says the apostle, "is sin." 

Sin gives virulence to every calamity and sorrow. This 
poison extracted, nothing remains but an ordinary flesh 
wound, which though it may smart for a while, may be en- 
dured by the help of a little fortitude ; especially, as we 
said before, when we consider how soon all our troubles will 
come to an end ; and pure, unmingied joy succeed, in the 
world to come. 

Again, this salvation is not only negative, but j^ositive. 

It is some thing more than a deliverance from all evil. It 
is being put in possession of every desu'able good. If God 
pardons our sins He considers and treats us as His children. 
If He has saved us from death, He has also made us heirs 
of eternal life. ''Whom He justified, them He also glori- 



356 



THE EXCZLLEN'CT A.XI> SUFFICIEXCX 



£ed.'- This salvatioo, this peace, and joy, and happinesS| 
begins here, and is perfected hereafter. It begins here. 

By its effects npon oor character. 

'* Blessed,'' says the Saviour '* are the meek." 

** Blessed are the poor in spirit.'' 

'' Blessed are the pure in heart." 

" Blessed are they that moum." 

These are all so many dispositions calculated to make the 
possessor happy. Xot, indeed, according to the judgment 
of this world and its children. " They call the pro".*3 btuppy. 
Men will praise thee if thou doest well to thyseiV' Tii-y 
seek their happine^ in the gratification of their / ; s : s . T !_ y 
delight in mirth, and riot, and laugLter. T^ r ' v: I :_- 

viol, the tabret, and pipe, and wine. :e : ^ - - : : 

they regard not the work of the L : i ^ . „ - : : _ e 

operation of His hands. 

Here, then, Christ and the world are at issue. Time will 
show whose judgment is according to truth. But they who 
have learned of Christ can te^fy that there is more true 
satis&ction in the s :ir; rs : : t _: jii, than in the most riot- 

I iiiidst of reveling the heart 

?T!^panion, who seemed out- 

_ : T . :: as, like Col. Gardiner be- 

jzz'. z ::- : - . 1 - dog that lay under 



ens joys of the wc: 
may be sad, and m 

v;-2.rdW to be al! 11:- 



hisl*al^, :.: ^ I Ii^^'t ■; rri: _': '::_:r i.^jrs with 
him. 

The new : ; :_ :i: : e Cl.::stian on his believing 
the gospel, is : r - : the purest joys. The love of 
Grodisshe' :- - :'' :Lr H '7 "^ : ':. He is 
enabled tc> _ ^ ix^iis 01 : ^ :. 7, inch are, 
love, joy, ]r T. — temperance. r like. "Be- 
ing justifie i : '^ve peace with G : d . ' ' A : :■. v y 
11: :- r : ^ - e en the soul and its ^iaker. 



OF THE GOSPEL. 357 

as we have already had occasion to remark, and this is a 
never-failing source of comfort and joy. 

To be able to call God our Father ; to know that He 
loves with more than parental affection ; to be able to look 
up to Jesus as our King and Saviour ; to hear His cheering 
voice, " Be thou faithful unto death and I will give thee the 
crown of life ; " to feel the sanctifying and comforting in- 
fluences of the Holy Spirit upon our souls, like a refreshing 
rain, or the warm beams of a vernal sun, — this all together 
constitutes a happiness of which the worldling can form 
not the famtest conception. 

His pleasures are impure, cold, selfish. There is no sub- 
stance in them. They are not adapted to the nature of a 
mind destined for immortality. They are unsatisfactory, 
disgustful, the source of constant pains and disquietudes, 
and the forerunners of certain destruction. 

But again, the positive'part of this salvation consists in 
no small degree in its hopes. " We are saved," made hap- 
py, "by hope." The weakness of our jDresent state would 
not admit of uninterrupted enjoyment. It would pall upon 
our taste, and make us careless of duty. While, therefore, 
we continue in this state of minority, God, like a wise and 
careful father, deals out to His children only so much com- 
fort and enjoyment as is advantageous for them. They are 
now to labor and acquire habits that are to last for eternity. 

Their estate is meanwhile held in reserve for them They 
have " an inheritance in heaven, incorruptible, undefiled, 
that fadeth not away." For this they look; to qualify 
themselves for it is the object of their toils and labors. 
The hope of eventual salvation cheers them under all trials 
and diflSculties. " And this hope we have as an anchor to 
the soul both sure and steadfast." 

Hope gives courage, energy, activity. Nothing so calls 



358 THE EXCELLENCY A]ST> SUFFICIENCY 

forth all the powers' of the mind as hope. The hope of vic- 
tory nerves the soldier for the battle. The hope of fame 
enables the poet or the scholar to endure want of sleep and 
want of bread. The hope of recovery keeps up the spirits 
of the invalid ; and the hope of heaven supports, invigor- 
ates, and animates the Christian. 

And " hope," this hope founded on the promise of God 
that can not lie, " maketh not ashamed." For, in its final 
results, the salvation wrought by this divine power, will 
issue in the complete restoration of its subjects to the im- 
age of God ; they will be admitted into the most intimate 
union with Him ; raised above angels, and appointed to the 
highest dignities in the kingdom of God, by virtue of their 
union with Christ. But though now already we are the 
sons of God, it doth not as yet appear what we shall be. 

It is in vain for us to attempt to describe or to conceive 
the thousandth part of what Go'd has prepared for them 
that love Him. It is all summed up in the reasoning of the 
apostle, where he says, " If while we were enemies we were 
reconciled unto God by the death of His Son, much more 
being (now ) reconciled, we shall be saved by His life." 

We shall close with a few words of practical application. 

And, Jirstj if the apostle was not ashamed nor afraid to 
preach Christ and Him crucified, before a wicked and gain- 
saying world, in the face of obloquy, mockery, death, shall 
we be ashamed or afraid to confess Him before the Church 
and the world ? He still calls upon us, " if any man will 
come after me and be my disciple, let him deny himself, 
take up his cross and follow me." There is no getting 
around this straight gate ; there is no avoiding this narrow 
way, if we would get to heaven. 

The gospel still is attended with its difficulties. Such are, 
among others, its simplicity, its strictness. It is so simple a 



OF THE GOSPEL. 359 

way that it is hard to persuade men that they ha^e under- 
stood it. It is just as simple as to tell a man who is per- 
ishing for want of food, that if he will go to such a place 
and knock at the door and ask for relief he will obtain it. 
"Knock," says Christ, "audit shall be opened unto you, 
ask and ye shall receive, seek and ye shall find." Well, but 
where is the difficulty ? It is that men are too proud to 
come in this way, or they are too wise to be sent on such 
a fool's errand, as they consider it. Hence they remain 
where they are, till they perish in their sins. Is not it so, 
my friends ? 

Another difficulty is the strictness of the gospel. It does 
not allow men to carry their lusts along with them to 
heaven. It requires, " if thine eye offend thee, pluck it out 
and cast it from thee." " Come ye out from among them 
and be ye separate, and I will receive you, and will be a 
father unto you, and ye shall be my sons and my daughters, 
saith the Lord Almighty." But this seems too hard a con- 
dition to the sensual mind of the sinner, and till he is will- 
ing to part with his sins, and to relinquish his covetousness, 
and his pride, and his self-esteem, and his indolence, he can 
not enter into the kingdom; for, " excej)t a man be born 
again he can not see the kingdom of God." 

This, you well know ; and these terms seem too hard, 
hence you will not believe and come to Christ and be saved. 
But whose fault will it be if you perish miserably for ever? 
Oh, then, be wise ! Mourn now, that you may rejoice for 
ever. Amen. 



SERMON XX. 

THE EASY YOKE OF CHRIST. 

'* Take mv yoke upon you and learn of me ; for I am meek and lowly m 
heart : and ye shall find rest unto your souls." — ^^tthew, xl. 29. 

That all men desire to be happy, and strive to become 
so by all the means in their power, is an observation veri- 
fied by every day's experience. It is no less true that men 
strike into very different and even opposite paths in the 
pm'snit of happiness. Some seek it in the indulgence af ap- 
petite ; others in the acquisition of wealth ; some in the pur- 
suits of science ; others in the race after honor. There are 
those, too, who expect to find happiness in exemption from 
care and labor ; while comparatively a small number seek 
it in the service -of their Maker. 

Now, there is nothing wrong in the desire to be happy. 
It is natural, implanted in the breast of every sentient be- 
ing, and proceeds from the beneficent Author of all things. 
He has evidently meant that all His creatures should be 
happy, each in its peculiar sj^here. And when men fail, as 
they often do, in attaining this end, we must seek for the 
cause in their having struck upon a wrong course. A very 
simple process of reasoning might suffice to throw light 
upon this subject. 

If it had been the desigu of our Maker that we should be 
miserable, no efforts of ours could avail to counteract His 
purpose. If He were indifferent to our well-being, He 
woi;ld not have employed those stupendous means for our 



THE EASY YOKE OF CHRIST. 361 

recovery and future liappiness which we find that He has 
done. And if, as is manifestly the case, and as He has most 
solemnly assured us, ''It is not His will that any should 
perish, but that all men should be saved and come to tl>e 
knowledge of the truth," then it is clear that it is only in 
the way He has pointed out that men can hope to attain the 
desired end. 

Nothing, indeed, is more completely ascertained by the 
experience of all times, past and present, than this, that by 
all the inventions which men have sought out, different 
from and contrary to the way pointed out in the word of 
God, they have ever failed to secure the prize they have 
been so eagerly seeking. 

Should you inquire of any of your acquaintance whether 
they were happy, whether they were perfectly satisfied and 
had all that they wished for, you would find that they were 
all, or a great part, at least, living in expectation of some 
hitherto unattained good, which they hoped would render 
them completely happy ; or else, that after many disap- 
pointments and fruitless attempts, they had given up the 
search as hopeless, and only desired to pass through life 
with as little discomfort as possible. 

In general, the world, by its restless activity, its strife, 
and manifest discontent, shows very plainly that it is not in 
possession of the coveted good. Men never are, but always 
to be blest. "What they have is not sufficient to satisfy 
their desires; and is only employed as a means to procure 
some thing else which they have not yet attained. 

Some, after having run for a time in the fruitless chase 
after happiness, settle down in stupid apathy, or give them- 
selves up to sensual indulgences, from the want of some 
thing to fill up their time, and satisfy the cravings of the 
heai't for bliss. Others are looking around with anxious 

16 



362 THE EASY YOKE OF CHKIST. 

search for some yet untried source of enjoyment. In one 
way or other, the majority of mankind manifest that they 
have not succeeded, with all their efforts, in securing rest to 
their souls. They eagerly inquire, " Who will show us any 
good ? What is that good thing that a man shall do all the 
days of his life ?" 

To all such as have tried the various schemes of happi- 
ness and found them vain ; who like Noah's dove can find 
no rest for the sole of their foot, the gospel-ark presents a 
quiet and secure retreat. " Come unto me," says the Sav- 
iour, " all ye that labor and are heavy laden and I will give 
you rest." 

This gracious invitation ought to excite our grateful at- 
tention. Having found every other spring of comfort to 
fail in a season of drought, unfit to furnish supplies in the 
time of need, let us go to the fountain of living waters 
which flows from Mount Zion. Having failed to find rest 
in the things of earth, let us listen to the instructions of the 
great "Teacher come from God." "Take my yoke upon 
you," He says, " and learn of me, for I am meek and lowly 
in heart, and ye shall find rest unto your souls." 

These words furnish us as the subject of our contempla- 
tion, that 

All that take Christ's yoke and receive His in- 
structions SHALL find rest. 

May the Lord prepare our minds for a profitable contem- 
plation, such as will issue in our finding rest unto our souls. 

We consider, ^r^i^, the thing promised, the prize proposed : 
Rest — rest unto our souls. 

The expression seems purposely chosen to intimate, that 
nowhere else, and in no other way, can we come to rest ; 
that while we are strangers to Christ, we are equally stran- 
gers to all true comfort ; restless and uneasy, like a man toss- 



THE EASY YOKE OF CHRIST. 363 

ing on his bed from side t(*Ride under the influence of pain 
or fever; In promising us rest, the Saviour engages to re- 
move this pain, and to cure this fever. He will first heal the 
disease of our soul, and then furnish that wholesome nourish- 
ment which will yield true satisfaction, and pure delight. 

After having labored hard all day, how welcome is rest 
at night. Even so, after a life of vexation and care, spent 
in vain endeavors to find happiness where it does not exist ; 
when the mind has been harassed by alternate hopes and 
fears, by losses and disappointments; disappointment in 
success, no less than in failure, and doubly bitter in the 
former case ; after having tried all the vaunted sources of 
happiness and found them all to flow with bitter or muddy 
waters, to reach at last a spring of sweet and limpid water, 
a cool and quiet resting-place, is soothing to the weary 
spirit. And this rest the Saviour offers us. " Come unto 
me all ye that labor and are heavy laden and I will give you 
rest." He will satisfy every honest craving of the heart ; 
supply every want of our spiritual nature. He engages to 
soothe the pangs of remorse, the fever of the passions and 
the goadings of ambition. He will allay the fears of here- 
after, and the dread of death. Every source of pain shall 
be excluded, every rational desire gratified, and our nature 
furnislned with all the happiness of which it is capable. But 
may we reckon upon the performance of this promise ? 
This leads us, in the second place, to consider the certainty 
of the promise. This may be inferred from a variety of 
sources. For this very purpose Christ came into the world, 
to seek and to save that which was lost. Though man had 
voluntarily abjured his allegiance to God, and put himself 
madly out of the pale of divine protection and favor, yet 
our gracious Creator did not, therefore, give him up to the 
merited consequences of his folly. He still entertains 



364 THE EASY YOKE OF CHRIST. 

thoughts of peace and compa^on towards us. Hence He 
sent His only begotten and well-beloved Son, not that He 
should condemn the world, but that the world through Him 
might be saved. Surely, then, we may expect with the full- 
est confidence that, when the Saviour promises to give us 
rest. He will not fail to perform what He has promised. 

That it will not be for want of ability that He will fail to 
perform it, is evident from the proofs of His power which 
He gave when on earth ; no less than from the evidence of 
His Divinity, which His history before and after His sufier- 
ings afford. No one but He who was essentially God, could 
as He did, lay down His life voluntarily and resume it at 
pleasure. 

Thus, His repeatedly foretold resurrection on the third 
day, is the proof of His power over life and death, and that 
all nature, all created things are subject to Him. Hence 
we need be under no apprehensions lest He should want the 
means or the ability to do what He has promised.. And He 
is faithful, too. His truth and candor shine forth in His ev- 
ery action. In reference to this very quality He could chal- 
lenge His most embittered opposers, " Which of you can 
convict me of sin ? " As He said to Pilate, " For this end 
was I born, and for this cause came I into the world, that I 
should bear witness unto the truth." It was God?s truth 
which He came to teach and to testify. None of His say- 
ings have yet been falsified ; though there has in no age 
been wanting a multitude of bitter opponents to Christ and 
His gospel, who would fain have proved Him a liar if they 
could. But His truth has stood fii-m under every assault, 
filling His enemies with shame, and showing that it is wis- 
dom to trust in Him, who is " the way, the truth, and the 
life." 

The experience of all who have trusted in Him confirms 



THE EASY YOKE OF CHRIST. 365 

the solidity of His promises. None has ever sincerely and 
faithfully obeyed the Saviour's directions, and has failed of 
the promised rest. Of thousands and millions who have 
committed their all unto Him, not one has ever repented 
of having done so. Rather, they have had to acknowledge 
that before they believed and thus came to the enjoyment 
of the rest of the gospel, they had never formed to them- 
selves any adequate conception of the peace and joy that 
would fill their hearts. Nothing short of actual experience 
could have convinced them of it. And to this day there are 
numerous witnesses to the truth and faithfulness, the power 
and grace of the Saviour, who can testify of what they 
have seen and felt of the rest that He gives to the souls of 
them that believe. But if we take a larger view of the ef- 
fect of gospel principles as exercised upon the condition 
of society, we find that it has been most salutary so far as 
it has penetrated. Like the rays of the sun in Spring, melt- 
ing the frozen earth, and causing plants and trees to bud 
and sprout, so has the influence of the sun of righteousness 
upon the hearts of men, frozen by selfishness and vice, been 
manifested by softening the feelings, and causing the fruits 
of righteousness to abound. 

No one that has eyes to see and ears to hear, can for a 
moment doubt whether the influence of the gospel, where 
received in its purity, has been other than most beneficial. 
You need but take a glance at the difierent condition, in a 
moral, and even in a civil and political point of view, of 
Protestant countries, as compared with those where a coun- 
terfeit or adulterated religior^has prevailed. If you ask to 
what their superiority is to be traced, the answer is, to the 
gospel and its softening and purifying influences. And that 
this efiect is not more striking still, is entirely owing to the 
obstructions which it meets, and the want of a more harmo- 



366 THE EASY YOKE OF CHRIST. 

nious and strenuous effort on the part of its sincere subjects 
to communicate to others the benefit intended for all. And 
by this culpable negligence they have deprived themselves 
of much of its salutary influence. 

Some seem to care only for so much religion as may save 
themselves. But such a case is impossible. That selfish spirit 
which leads us to care only for ourselves and our immedi- 
ate relatives and friends, is the very opposite of the Spirit 
of Christ, and when it prevails, is an evident token that the 
gospel has never taken deep root in the heart. When once 
professing Christians shall wake up to a true apprehension 
of their duty and destination, then will it be made manifest 
in the sight of the world that Christ is both able and will- 
ing to give rest to all that come unto Him. But if we 
would share in this rest, it is necessary to attend to the 
condition under which it is promised. 

This will form the third subject of reflection at thiff time. 

'' Take my yoke upon you and learn of me." Bearing 
the yoke is a figure derived from the gentle and submissive 
disposition of a well-broken ox, and implies that we submit 
to the discipline and order, and engage with patient and per- 
severing labor in the duties devolviug upon us. 

To take Christ's yoke upon us, is, therefore, to become 
subject to the laws of His kingdom, to submit to all His 
commands, and to follow His directions. 

This is the only way in which we can find rest to our 
souls. It is not enough that we say we will do this. We 
must actually go about it, in serious earnest. Many de- 
ceive themselves in this matter. They think it is sufiScient 
to profess themselves the followers of the Lord Jesus Christ, 
w^hile they do not obey His instructions, nor follow His ex- 
ample. But as the main cause of our unhappiness is the 
selfishness of the soul, a proud heart and an unsubdued will. 



THE EASY YOKE OP CHRIST. 367 

SO the very first step towards finding rest, is to have this 
will subdued, this pride eradicated, this selfishness removed. 
To effect this radical change is utterly out of the power of 
man. It can only be wrought by the gracious influences 
of the Holy Spirit. In order to enjoy these influences 
effectually, we must be thoroughly convinced of our entire 
helplessness in what regards our eternal salvation. This 
humbling sense of our weakness and inability in spiritual 
matters is soonest acquired by a sincere and earnest at- 
tempt to perform every duty enjoined by God. Those who 
have never seriously endeavored to do the will of God, are 
always inclined to think that they can do it with ease, 
whenever they shall choose to make the attempt. It is those 
only that, following the admonitions of conscience and the 
gentle drawings of God's Spirit, have begun in earnest to 
strive to do their duty, who will become truly sensible of 
their deficiencies, and will thus be led to look out of them- 
selves for help. The carnally secure and reckless feel no 
need of a Saviour, and hence they never come to Him in 
earnest. They pay Him, perhaps, some marks of external 
respect, in return for which, they hope He will make up for 
their deficiencies, and save them in the end. 

But when sufficiently convinced of our helplessness and 
ill-desert, we must by no means give way to despair and 
unbelief. We must accept the gracious invitation of the 
Saviour and go to Him for the rest we need. To encour- 
age us to make this application, He assures us that He is 
meek and lowly in heart. He is gentle and patient, full of 
tenderness and compassion, kind and forgiving. Hence we 
need not be afraid to approach into His presence, poor and 
unworthy though we feel ourselves. 

The wounded conscience and the broken heart are ten- 
der, and will not endure rough handling. How thankful 



368 THE EAST YOKE OF CHRIST. 

then should we be, that the Father of mercies has proTided 
for us so suitable a Saviour and High Priest. Xone need 
fear a repulse, who come to Him with humility and a will- 
ingness to be taught, and a readiness to obey. They will 
find that His heart is all tenderness and love. Like Joseph 
when his brethren were brought to the utmost distress 
yearned to make himself known to them — so the Saviour's 
bowels of compassion are moved towards every sincere pen 
itent, when he stammers forth his confession of sin. If He 
appears to make Himself strange, it is to test the sincerity 
of our repentance, and to bring us to the right frame of 
mind, in which His help will be truly welcome and grate- 
fiilly received. For nothing is more common than for men 
to deceive themselves as to the reality of their repentance. 
They who are truly sorry for their sins, will never suppose 
that they are sufficiently affected with them. They will 
fear that they are deceiving themselves with a feigned, or 
at best, a selfish repentance. Hence, they fear that if they 
should come to Christ they would meet with a repulse. 
WhUe such as think they have repented sufficiently, are 
ready to find fault that they do not receive the comfort 
they had expected. 

By this very thing, they show that their repentance was 
not that "godly sorrow '' for sin, which is necessary in 
order to our being relieved. A man may be sorry on a 
variety of accounts for a life of sin and disobedience. He 
may regret it on account of the temporal evils whidi are 
often connected with it, such as the loss of health, of prop- 
erty, of reputation. Or he may be vexed that he can not 
entertain so good an opinion of himself as he would wish. 
Or he may feel uneasy in view of the consequences attend- 
ant upon sin in another world. He may be afraid of being 
cast out into outer darkness, where there is weeping, and 



THE EASY YOKE OF CHRIST. 36-9 

wailing, and gnashing of teeth. None of these feelings are 
marks of a true repentance. This implies that we are sorry 
for having offended a holy God, for having grieved Ilis 
Spirit, and disobeyed His commands. 

Where such feelings exist, we may go with confidence to 
the Saviour for rest unto our souls. We shall find that He 
is meek, harboring no animosity on account of our past ill 
treatment of Him ; that He has only been waiting to see us 
in a suitable frame of mind to receive His pardoning grace. 
He is humble in heart, the very reverse of tyrannical or 
supercilious. He has a compassionate disposition which in- 
clines Him to pity the erring children of men, and nothing 
affords Him so much joy as to see any of them seeking their 
way to God in earnest. He employs a variety of methods 
to bring them to this resolution. Especially, He sends 
forth His Spirit to reclaim the rebels ; and such as suffer 
themselves to be led by the Spirit, as do not willfully or 
carelessly quench His genial influences, shall be brought 
back to their Father's house and received into favor, 
adopted as children, and admitted to rest. But in order 
to share in these blessings we must bow our necks to the 
yoke of Christ, and learn of Him. We must submit to His au- 
thority in all things, making no exceptions or reservations. 
We must study his instructions and precepts, as recorded 
for our use, and form our lives and conduct by them. 

An important part of this submission to Christ and imita- 
tion of His example, consists in closely scrutinizing our 
motives ; and as we are naturally selfish to be doubly on 
our guard in every thing to which our inclinations would 
draw us. It is generally safer to deny ourselves of any- 
thing for which we have no better reason than that it would 
afford us personal gratification. Nothing serves more to 
excite and keep ahve our native selfishness, than to have all 

16* 



370 THE EASY YOKE OF CHRIST. 

our desires gratified. To put a proper check upon them is, 
therefore, of the utmost importance for the formation of a 
Christian character, that is, a character like that of Christ. 
He says Himself that He " came not to be ministered unto, 
but to minister and to lay down His life as the ransom for 
many." And the nearer we resemble Him in the principles 
of our conduct, the more fully shall we enjoy the rest which 
He has promised. None can tell till he has tried it, how 
much our real happiness depends upon such a course. 

And just as contrary as it is to the ideas entertained by 
the natural man, so true it is in the experience of every sin- 
cere follower of the Lord Jesus, that the less self is gratifi- 
ed, the more truly blessed we feel. And all this can be ac- 
complished without relinquishing any of the pure joys of 
life. The ordinary circumstances of our earthly existence, 
furnish abundant opportunity for every innocent and health- 
ful gratification. These are thrown in for good measure by 
our gracious Creator, when we sincerely endeavor to do 
His will. While those who make them the supreme objects 
of their desires and endeavors, are sure to miss the very 
end they have in view. By a false estimate of life they 
turn their comforts into sources of annoyance, as a depraved 
stomach converts wholesome nourishment into poison. 

The more, in short, we learn to forget ourselves, the more 
true enjoyment shall we have* As we may see it exempli- 
fied even in the occurrences of ordinary life, religion out of 
the question, where we find that those who are most con- 
cerned to make others happy, never fail to obtain a double 
share of enjoyment, while the selfish and willful deprive 
themselves of the comforts within their reach. 

This renunciation of self, like to that of the Saviour, who 
says, " I came not to do mine own will, but the will of Him 
that sent me," is the essential part of taking up Christ's 



THE EASY YOKE OF CHRIST. 371 

yoke, and learning of Him. Just so far as we have suc- 
ceeded in this attempt, so far, and no farther, are we 
His followers, and just so far we shall find rest unto our 
souls. By this we may try whether our rehgion is genuine 
or not. Many deceive themselves as to their spiritual con- 
dition ; and what makes their case doubly dangerous, they 
wish to be deceived. They have no mind that their false 
hopes should be taken from them. To endeavor to unde- 
ceive them and to convince them of their mistake, is the 
most ungrateful task one could undertake. Some rely upon 
excited feelings ; the gratification which they at times ex- 
perience in the exercises of religion. Some trust to their 
morality, their external conformity to the law of God. 
Some put confidence in rites and ceremonies. 

All these are false tests of godliness. The only principle 
that will bear scrutiny is an earnest desire and constant en- 
deavor to be conformed to the will of God, and to the ex- 
ample of the Lord Jesus Christ. If we have truly submit- 
ted to His yoke and have learned of Him to deny ourselves, 
then have we the sure promise that we shall find rest. And 
this rest we shall actually experience. A sweet calm will 
possess our souls. Anxious fears and forebodings will van- 
ish. We shall have access to the throne of grace in the 
name of our great Advocate and High Priest. We can cast 
ourselves into the arms of divine love, with all the confi- 
dence with which a little child runs into the arms of its 
kind father or afiTectionate mother. Though not exempt 
from the trials and sorrows of life — for this is no part of 
the promise — we shall meet them with serenity and firm- 
ness, convinced that they are meant for our good, as need- 
ful medicines to heal our spiritual diseases. We shall re- 
ceive every comfort, as a new proof of our Saviour's love 
and our Father's care. A dry crust eaten in this spirit will 



372 THE EAST YOKE OT CHRIST. 

relish better than all the delicacies of a feast to the unthank- 
ful. The love of God shed abi--'^ ^/^ "le heart by the Holv 
Ghost, will sweeten every toil. . . . -.ri: every pain, and 
drive out every anxious thought. A calm, serene, resigned 
and joyful sj^irit will a" ":y us throu,^; V.e hard- 

ships and troubles of th..- c:..- .-ly scene. T:_ ^r*s vrind 

that is so distressing to an unfeebl-d and sieh^_ ^ . __r. s^rvcS 
only to brace and e?ihi!arate a robust constitution. Even 
so the trials of life which to the sickly sen- ' " ^~ i are so 
annoying, are but the means of calling ioxl^^ 1.110 active 
exercise the graces of God's children. 

And while they live by faith, and follow the Saviour in 
His life of activity, and self-denial, and z-:' '- he glory 
of God — they enjoy an internal pe^:-^ :^ ; -'^^'^^g of 

the favor of God, which far more • : hr all 

the boasted joys of the worldly, which c^ rc-igned. 

And this is but the foretaste of their \1 happiness, 

when, having outrode in the ark of t.^ v., ^nant all the 
storms of this present scene, they shall land at last in the 
haven of eternal rest. For, as : stle assures us, 

"•There remaineth a rest for the peop.L- h" There is 

an era of perfect rest before them, when :... ...._ rr. hardship 

vexation, grief, and trouble ^hall c:nie to a perprtnal end. 

Thus the advantage is clearly on the side of a life of self- 
denial and faith. Here already, it is vastly n: " able 
and desirable than the intoxicating pleasure. ^^ .^c .. urld, 
while it has in prospect a state of pure, perfect, unutterable 
delight; while, on the other hand, after the few snatches of 
pleasure enjoyed by the ungodly, they ] ^ ' j before 

them but a long and sad eternity to lani-^, .__ ^ of their 

choice, the loss of heaven, and the pains and penalties of 
that holy law which they have broken. There is no rest for 
the wicked, and never will be throuo-hout the a2:es of eter- 



THE EASY YOKE OF CHRIST. 373 

nity. Oh ! that they would consider this in season, and 
seek rest where alone it is to be found ! Even by coming 
unto Jesus Christ, who still invites all that are weary and 
heavy laden to come unto Him and He will give them rest. 

Say, are you not yet weary of a life of idle dreams, of 
vain, illusory hopes, of degrading pursuits, of continual disap- 
pointments ? Are you not heavy laden enough with sin and 
guilt, and fear of the future, and dread of meeting God in 
judgment. How do you expect to be delivered from this 
burden, unless you accept the Saviour's invitation and come 
to Him ? He has borne the punishment of your sins, that 
you through His perfect righteousness might be received 
into favor, acquitted of all your guilt, and treated as if you 
Avere perfectly righteous in your own persons. Will you 
not accept this gracious offer ? Will you put away from 
you the grace of Christ, and judge yourselves unworthy of 
eternal life ? What will you do in the end ? " How shall 
you escape, if you neglect this great salvation ?" 

And where do you hope to find rest, if Christ does not 
give it to you ? Can the world give it ? Have you not 
trusted to its promises long enough to find them to be hol- 
low and deceitful ? Have you not yet discovered that all 
its pleasures are base, degrading, and followed by pain and 
remorse ? What good can that wealth do you in the end, 
which you are seeking with all your efforts? "What shall 
it profit a man, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose 
his own soul ? or what shall a man give in exchange for his 
soul ?" If the soul is lost, it is lost for ever. 

There is no recovery when once the barrier of death is 
passed. That is the line which God has drawn, within which 
He offers you His grace, freely, without money and without 
price. But once pass this line, and the voice of mercy will 
be no more heard. Oh ! then, be wise. Let the remaining 



S74 THE EASY YOKE OF CHRIST. 

days of your life be saved from folly and from sin. Let the 
time past suffice you to have wrought the will of the Gentiles. 
Let the experience you have had of the vanity of earth, and 
the unsatisfactory nature of earthly enjoyments, be sufficient. 
Try some thing better. Sell not your own souls for naught. 
Risk not the loss of heaven for any good of earth. 

Take upon you the Saviour's yoke and learn of Him, for 
He is meek and lowly in heart ; and ye shall find rest for 
your souls. To what purpose will you weary yourselves yet 
longer in the service of the world ? Can it give you rest ? 
Ask those who have tried it. Profit by the experience ot 
others. Do you not expect some day to apply to Christ for 
rest ? And why not now ? Will it be easier by and by to 
break away from old habits ? Will repentance be a lighter 
work, when you shall have added to your sins ? And mind, 
after being warned, your guilt is greater than while you 
lived in ignorance. Your remorse will be more severe ; and 
it will be attended by anxious doubts, and cruel fears, that 
after having slighted so long the Saviour's kind invitation. 
He may dismiss you with the cutting reproof: " Because I 
called and ye refused — I also will laugh at your calamity ; I 
will mock at your fears." Trust me, now is your time. 
You will never find a better. 

Soon the storm of divine indignation will burst upon you, 
and then you will find no shelter for your devoted heads ; 
all your sins will be brought to your remembrance, and you 
will have the additional anguish that you once were invited 
to return with the assurance of finding rest, but you 
spurned the kind ofier, and now you must endure the wrath 
of God to the utmost. Be wise now. 



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